You don’t need a reason to come to Xinjiang to experience winter tourism.
From Changji Prefecture to Altay Prefecture,
From Bayingolin Prefecture to Kashgar Prefecture,
Just the "snowscapes" alone can take on countless forms.
However, coming to Xinjiang to see snow is just an "entry-level" way of traveling.
In Xinjiang, seasoned travel experts
Currently, they are considering creating an in-depth winter tourism guide:
Scenic spots across Xinjiang have expressed their willingness
"Stay open this winter, and we’re ready with wonderful experiences waiting for you."
The Xinjiang exhibition delegation achieved promising results at the Tourism Transaction Fair
During the Tourism Transaction Fair this year, the Xinjiang exhibition area received more than 23,000 leaders, tour operators, tourists, and media representatives from all walks of life. On the opening day alone, the number of visitors exceeded 10,000. During the exhibition, more than 45,000 tourism promotion materials were distributed.
At this Tourism Trade Fair, the Xinjiang exhibition delegation achieved impressive results in tourism transactions. Local tourism departments and tourism enterprises reached signing intentions with 46 mainland travel agencies and tourism companies. Among them, on November 17, the People’s Government of Yecheng County signed a special tourism industry cooperation agreement with SAIC MAXUS RV Company with an intended amount of 3 million yuan to promote the in-depth development of Yecheng tourism and the "Xinjiang-Tibet Route"; the Altay Prefecture Tourism Bureau signed a special tourism industry cooperation agreement with Shanghai Spades Ski Club, Shanghai Infinite Wild Outdoor Club, Shanghai Pudong Outdoor Club, and Shanghai Zuoyou Outdoor Club to jointly develop, promote, and market Altay ice and snow tourism; the Kashgar Prefecture Tourism Bureau signed a cooperation agreement for the Shanghai-Kashgar Tourism Marketing Alliance with Shanghai Tourism Network Travel Service Co., Ltd., reaching an intention for charter flights to send tourists in 2019, and reached an intention agreement of 18 million yuan with Spring Tours and Shanghai Youth Travel Service; the Turpan City Tourism Bureau signed a marketing cooperation agreement with Ctrip.
Xinjiang has become the focus of major news media. On the opening day of this Tourism Trade Fair, 49 news media reported on the Xinjiang exhibition delegation, and 15 media conducted exclusive interviews with the Xinjiang exhibition delegation.
Multiple scenic spots in Xinjiang operate normally this winter
For many scenic spots in Xinjiang, this winter will be a busy one – On November 17, the Xinjiang Tourism Scenic Areas (Spots) Association held the Winter Promotion Meeting for Xinjiang Tourism Scenic Areas and the Cooperative Initiative Activity for the Innovative Development of Xinjiang Gemstone Cultural Tourism Industry. More than 20 tourist scenic areas that attended the meeting have expressed their intention to operate normally this winter.
Fuyun County, where Keketohai Scenic Area is located, has heavy snowfall in winter and high operating costs. However, this winter, Keketohai Scenic Area will operate from November 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019. On November 26, the first ski run will also be held at Keketohai International Ski Resort.
Du Jian, Director of the Marketing Center of Keketohai Scenic Area, introduced that this winter, tourists can explore the source of the Irtysh River, play in the wild snow, and admire the rime in Keketohai.
This winter, Tianshan Tianchi International Ski Resort will launch a two-day tour of "skiing + hot spring", changing the previous single supply of winter tourism products; Bayinbuluke Scenic Area will build a skating rink near the tourist center for tourists to participate in ice drifting, ice sledding, and other projects; Nalati Scenic Area will carry out snow horse racing, snowfield horse riding, horse-drawn sledging, gourmet food tasting, and clothing and costume display activities.
Activities such as skiing competitions, snow cross-country races, football, wrestling, rope skipping, snow sculpture competitions, gourmet food, bonfire concerts, cross-country elite challenge races, and other events will be held successively in various scenic spots.
This winter, not only scenic spots are busy, but also tourism enterprises such as travel agencies. On the 17th, dozens of travel agencies and Xinjiang Tourism Professional Association participated in the promotion meeting. This winter, major travel agencies in Xinjiang will give full play to their respective advantages and help various scenic spots carry out tourism marketing, promote tourism routes and tourism products through multiple channels such as tourism e-commerce platforms, reservation hotlines, and promotional brochures. Currently, the ice and snow tours, hot spring tours, and other tourism products of various travel agencies are in hot sales.
2018 Xinjiang Winter Tourism Trains Operated
At 19:54 on November 12, the New Oriental Express with Train Number Y971 departed from Urumqi Station for Beitun, marking the official launch of the "Traveling Xinjiang by Train" 2018 winter tourist train activities.
After nearly 12 hours of travel, at 8:13 am on November 13, Train Y971 arrived in Beitun City. Next, the tourists on the train will head to the Kanas scenic area to view the wonders of the Kanas Valley’s rime, admire the snow-covered "Wolongwan", "Moon Bay", and "Fairy Bay", and enter the snow-covered Hemu Village.
To enhance tourists’ comfort when traveling in Xinjiang, the "Traveling Xinjiang by Train" winter tourist trains in 2018 utilized the "New Oriental Express" train bodies, including luxury king-size bed carriages, double carriages, four-person carriages, as well as independent showers, luxury dining cars and lounges, with excellent service to make tourists feel at home during their comfortable journey.
"Traveling Xinjiang by Train" is a well-known brand of Xinjiang tourism, closely following the overall tourism promotion theme of "Xinjiang is a Great Place", vigorously implementing a new integrated development model of "Railway + Tourism", and successively launching boutique railway tourism routes such as "Circumnavigating Northern Xinjiang", "Magical Fire Valley", "Enjoying Southern Xinjiang", "Meeting in Dunhuang", and "Entering Central Asia". In 2017, nearly 300 "Traveling Xinjiang by Train" tourist trains were operated, receiving about 400,000 tourists. In 2018, winter tourism routes were operated for the first time, with a total of four routes, namely to Wenquan County, Kuqa, Kanas, and a circular route of Northern and Southern Xinjiang.
196 Tourism Activities in Xinjiang to Keep You Entertained
On November 5, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Tourism Development Commission held a Xinjiang Winter Tourism Product Promotion Meeting, where 12 units, including Altay Prefecture, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Urumqi City, Tianshan Tianchi Ski Resort, and Urumqi Railway International Travel Agency, conducted product promotions and introduced a batch of high-quality winter tourism products.
With the theme of "Effectively Increasing Product Supply", this promotion meeting actively prepared 196 types of tourism activities across various prefectures and cities, including 50 ice and snow activities, 44 cultural activities, 3 carnival shopping activities, 35 folk customs activities, 27 sports activities, 3 wellness activities, 3 study tours, 9 self-driving activities, and 22 leisure and vacation activities, enriching the winter tourism activities of 2018.
Nie Ping, the director of the Propaganda and Promotion Section of the Altay Prefecture Tourism Bureau, stated that Altay Prefecture is rich in tourism resources, with a complete range of types, including Kanas, Keketuohai, and Baisha Lake, three 5A scenic areas, and over 200 world-class high-quality tourism resources.
He Wen, secretary of the Party leadership group of the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture Tourism Bureau, introduced that Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture is expected to receive 3.8 million tourists in the fourth quarter of 2018, striving to exceed 30 million tourists throughout the year. "In winter 2018 and spring 2019, we will focus on promoting the ‘Ice and Fire’ ice and snow + hot spring tourism products; free admission to 100 scenic areas (spots); ‘Thousand Hui in the Western Regions’ benefiting relatives and promoting national unity, three major tourism products."
It is understood that the Autonomous Region Tourism Development Committee proposed in 2018 to accelerate the construction of the “2+1+N” winter tourism development pattern. The “2” refers to taking Altay and the Urumqi-Changji area as leaders, highlighting ice and snow tourism, tapping resource potential, vigorously developing winter tourism products, cultivating the winter tourism industry chain, and creating core supporting brands for winter tourism. The “1” refers to southern Xinjiang focusing on folk culture and customs tourism products, planning and launching high-quality tourism routes, connecting points into lines and lines into areas, driving the overall development of tourism in southern Xinjiang. The “N” refers to holding a total of 196 winter tourism activities across Xinjiang to effectively increase market supply. There will also be targeted promotion of 10 winter tourism high-quality routes, increased marketing of winter tourism special products, efforts to successfully hold a series of winter tourism activities across Xinjiang, the introduction of a batch of winter tourism preferential policies, the expansion of winter tourism development achievements, and support for the development of winter tourism.
Winter tourism begins the “low-altitude tourism” mode
On November 20th, the inaugural flight ceremony for low-altitude tourism routes for winter tourism in Altay Prefecture, Xinjiang, was held at Altay Airport. Three low-altitude tourism routes were opened: Altay to Fuyun, Kanas (Jiadenyu), and Hemu, marking the beginning of the “low-altitude tourism” mode for winter tourism.
It is reported that from November 20th to March 15th, 2019, there are plans for one flight per day from the Altay General Mountain takeoff and landing point to Kanas (Jiadenyu) and Hemu, as well as from Kanas (Jiadenyu) to Hemu for helicopter short-haul transportation and low-altitude sightseeing flights. Flights to Hemu will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, while flights to Kanas (Jiadenyu) will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Chen Bo, member of the Altay Prefecture Party Committee and Executive Deputy Director of the Administrative Office, said that winter tourism “air buses” will operate between cities, between cities and scenic spots, and between scenic spots, solving the problems of Altay’s winter dormancy and long travel times with short stays. This will address shortcomings such as the lack of diversity in transportation modes and weak support capabilities for key winter tourism scenic spots in the region. It will create new forms of business for helicopter short-haul transportation and low-altitude sightseeing in the region, ensuring that Altay does not go dormant or close during the winter, and helping Altay’s winter tourism to become popular and heated.
It is understood that this year, centering on the goal of “promoting Xinjiang to transform from a major tourism resource region to a strong tourism economy region and building it into an important international tourist destination,” Altay Prefecture will make the “four regions and one belt” its winter tourism core competitiveness and leading products. Through winter tourism, Altay will be built into an international tourist destination, a world-class ice and snow tourism destination, and a world ice and snow sports destination. Efforts will be concentrated on obtaining growth from winter tourism and promoting scenic spots and attractions to develop throughout the entire region and all four seasons. From January to October, Altay Prefecture received a total of 21.9068 million tourist visits, achieving a total tourism consumption of 22.016 billion yuan, with respective year-on-year increases of 41.78% and 104.29%.
Wei Hongbing, deputy director of the Altay Prefecture Tourism Bureau, said that centering on tourism, Altay has made a series of plans to create a comprehensive three-dimensional “railway, highway, and airport” transportation network. Transportation to important scenic spots and attractions is fully connected. Additionally, according to standards, the toilet revolution is being solidly promoted, driving the overall improvement of winter tourism service facilities. This allows tourists to arrive smoothly, enjoy themselves, and stay comfortably.