The 2024-2025 ice and snow season is unforgettable. When 'Erbin' meets the Asian Winter Games, the passionate ice and snow event further consolidates and expands the achievements of 'driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports'; Ice and snow economy has become a hot topic, and domestic ice and snow equipment manufacturing continues to improve and upgrade in quality; Ice and snow tourism has become a way to embrace winter, as people search for "poetry and distant places" in the crystal clear world and experience the hot life in the icy and snowy conditions. Entering the ice and snow industry park located in Xuanhua District, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, with a more complete industrial layout, it is a bustling scene. The staff of Zhangjiakou Kono Engineering Plastics Co., Ltd. are reviewing the revenue of this ice and snow season. "We have added a simulated ice sheet production line and four land curling production lines, which have greatly increased production capacity and achieved good economic benefits," said Wu Yutong, the head of the company. Ice and snow sports are developing rapidly, and products such as simulated ice sheets, curling irons, and ice hockey balls produced by Kono Engineering Plastics Co., Ltd. are quite popular in the market. The company has increased its independent research and development efforts and has obtained more than 80 national patents, with many products exported overseas. As one of the venues for the snow sports events of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Zhangjiakou has tapped into the potential of ice and snow resources, relying on its existing industrial foundation to plan and construct the Xuanhua District Ice and Snow Industry Park and the High tech Zone Ice and Snow Sports Equipment Industry Park, forming an ice and snow equipment industry base that integrates research and development, manufacturing, testing, and warehousing. The Ice and Snow Industry Park targets the upstream and downstream industries of ice and snow equipment manufacturing, and has signed 12 projects. Currently, there are 8 projects in operation, and the park's revenue has been increasing year by year in the past 3 years, "said Xu Xiaoquan, the second level organizer of the Xuanhua Economic Development Zone Management Committee in Hebei. The Ice and Snow Sports Equipment Industrial Park focuses on intelligent ice and snow equipment manufacturing. Park enterprises have leveraged their respective strengths, with some companies developing induction airbag ski suits to enhance safety for athletes. Some products utilize artificial intelligence and big data algorithms to collect and provide feedback on various data of athletes. More intelligent ice and snow sports equipment plays a positive role in optimizing the sports experience and expanding the sports population, "said Bai Jianhai, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Zhangjiakou High tech Zone. In addition, Zhangjiakou actively builds a comprehensive development strategy platform for the ice and snow sports equipment industry, and has continuously released the "Zhangjiakou China Ice and Snow Industry Development Index" for many years, helping to promote the high-quality development of the ice and snow industry. With stronger research and development capabilities, machines roar with colorful cotton yarn shuttling back and forth, weaving, shaping, packaging... Beside the machines, pairs of socks stack up into small mountains, and workers walk between rows of machines, busy and bustling. This is a scene from the production workshop of Liaoyuan North Sock Industry Group Sock Weaving Co., Ltd. in Jilin Province. Racing against time to meet orders and busy production is the daily routine of the workshop. Liaoyuan is known as the "famous city of China's sock industry", with an annual production capacity of 3.5 billion pairs of cotton socks. In recent years, Northern Sock Industry Group Sock Weaving Co., Ltd. has strengthened its independent research and development, and its development focus has gradually shifted from OEM manufacturing for well-known brands to building its own brand. Our company's self heating ice and snow socks are selling well in major ski resorts in China According to Bai Chunwei, the sales manager of the company, 3600 pairs of self heating ice and snow socks will be packed into the equipment bags of Chinese sports delegation athletes for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. In extremely cold weather, the product can achieve an average temperature increase of over 8 degrees Celsius. "According to consumer reviews, wearing self heating ice and snow socks keeps the whole body warm. R&D capability and confidence in development. Guided by industrial demand, scientific research and development can help promote high-quality development of the ice and snow economy, "said Xin Benlu, director of the Key Laboratory of Equipment and Intelligent Service Technology for Ice and Snow Tourism Sites and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism at Jilin University. This is a skiing inspired penguin independently developed by our laboratory, "said Xin Benlu. The laboratory team conducted in-depth research on the development status of the ice and snow industry, capturing the difficulties and pain points in the development of the ice and snow economy, and solving and breaking through them through scientific research. The ice and snow biomimetic series technology independently developed by the laboratory has obtained more than 10 patents, and the biomimetic penguin series products with independent intellectual property rights have also appeared in multiple ski resorts. At the same time, projects such as mobile micro homestays, all season indoor intelligent simulated ski resorts, and flexible wearable technology for ice and snow are also accelerating. On the snow covered land with richer product supply, rows of small wooden houses are lit up with orange lights, melodious songs are played, and laughter is heard from inside the houses... This ice and snow season, homestays in Altay, Xinjiang are very lively. In the homestay, not only can you enjoy the snow scenery of Lake Eremu, but you can also taste authentic Xinjiang specialty dishes such as pan chicken. According to tourism platform data, since December 2024, the search popularity of ice and snow tourism related products in Xinjiang has grown rapidly. Among them, the booking volume of ski tickets in Altay region has more than doubled compared to the same period last year. In order to enrich ice and snow tourism products and further promote and expand ice and snow tourism consumption, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released 12 national ice and snow tourism boutique routes at the end of last year. Since the Chinese New Year, the number of visitors to several ice and snow tourism destinations has reached a new high - the daily number of visitors to Harbin Ice and Snow World has exceeded 100000 for the first time, the highest in history; The daily number of skiers at Jiangjunshan International Ski Resort in Xinjiang has exceeded 10000, setting a new historical record; The number of tourists received by Jilin Songhua Lake Resort increased by 40.1% year-on-year, with the highest daily tourist reception in history... According to data from the China Tourism Research Institute, the number of tourists received nationwide during the 2024-2025 ice and snow season is expected to reach 520 million, and the total revenue of ice and snow tourism is expected to exceed 630 billion yuan, an increase of about 21% and 20% year-on-year, respectively. The 9th Asian Winter Games was successfully held in Harbin, consolidating and expanding the achievements of "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports". Data shows that since November 2024, the search volume for skiing has increased by 83% month on month, with Heilongjiang Yabuli Ski Resort, Beijing Wanlong Ski Resort, Jilin Beidahu Ski Resort, Wuhan Ganlu Mountain International Ski Resort and other related hot search phrases. The craze for ice and snow sports has driven the booming development of the consumer market. Data shows that sales of ski poles, ski goggles, ski shoes, and snowboards have all increased by over 80%, while sales of snowboards and ski suit sets have also increased by over 50%; Skiing equipment is developing towards specialization, functionality, and intelligence, and ski suits that balance professionalism, product materials, and style design are increasingly favored by skiing enthusiasts. (New Society)