The ice and snow tourism season officially kicked off on Nov 8 in Harbin, capital of China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province, according to a new conference held by the city municipal government.

This year’s ice and snow season will last five months until March next year.

Activities will include ice and snow sightseeing, as well as ice and snow-related cultural displays and events, as well as arts, fashion, sports and trade events.

Among some 400 activities will be an ice harvesting festival, a skiing festival, winter group weddings, ice and snow sculpture competitions and winter swimming competitions.

There will also be the Harbin International Fashion Show, Harbin Ice and Snow World, Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo, Songhua River Ice and Snow Carnival, Harbin Cold Region Expo and the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival.

In addition to the usual activities held annually, a highlight this year will be a new cultural experience involving concerts, poetry, dramas, fashions and model competitions.

To lure tourists, Harbin government will issue culture and tourism spending vouchers and coupons worth 48 million yuan ($6.87 million) that will go to people visiting Harbin during the ice and snow season.

It will also provide subsidies for travel agencies organizing visitors to stay overnight in the city.

Harbin is the birthplace of China's ice and snow tourism, which goes back some 57 years. Since the launch of a series of ice and snow tourism cities, Harbin has continued to rank first in an annual list of China's Top 10 Ice and Snow Tourism Cities.

The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival is one of the four major ice and snow events in the world.