An aerial drone photo taken on Nov. 25, 2025 shows the construction site of the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The 27th edition of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, a renowned seasonal theme park in Harbin, officially began construction on Tuesday. (Photo by Liu Yang/Xinhua)

HARBIN, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Full-scale construction on the world's largest ice-and-snow theme park, Harbin Ice-Snow World, started in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Tuesday.

Work on the park, which is set to span a record 1.2 million square meters this winter, began three days earlier than last year. About 10,000 workers will use some 200,000 cubic meters of ice stored for over 10 months for building ice sculptures and buildings, as rivers have not yet fully frozen this winter, according to Cong Peiyu, director of the design and development department of Harbin Ice-Snow World Co., Ltd.

The early start and use of reserved ice will help the park open as scheduled in late December, Cong said.

The park drew more than 3.56 million guests over its 68-day operation during last season, which ran from Dec. 21 to Feb. 26. Anticipating even more visitors this winter, the park plans to add new attractions including hot spring camps, snow football and other winter activities, supported by upgraded smart tourism services.

Harbin, often called China's "ice city," has turned its long, cold winters into a major tourist attraction. Last winter, the city welcomed a record 90.36 million visitors, generating 137.22 billion yuan (about 19.37 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue -- a 16.6-percent increase year on year.

Beyond the Ice-Snow World, Harbin is promoting two other major winter destinations: the 1.5-million-square-meter Sun Island Snow Expo and an Ice and Snow Carnival along the frozen Songhua River, featuring some 260 snow sculptures and 60 ice-and-snow entertainment projects, respectively, said Wang Hongxin, director of the city's culture, radio, television and tourism department.

The expansion comes as China pushes to grow its ice-snow economy into a key growth sector. In November 2024, the General Office of the State Council announced targets to grow the industry to 1.2 trillion yuan by 2027 and 1.5 trillion yuan by 2030. ■

An aerial drone photo taken on Nov. 25, 2025 shows the construction site of the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The 27th edition of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, a renowned seasonal theme park in Harbin, officially began construction on Tuesday. (Photo by Liu Yang/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on Nov. 25, 2025 shows the construction site of the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The 27th edition of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, a renowned seasonal theme park in Harbin, officially began construction on Tuesday. (Photo by Liu Yang/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on Nov. 25, 2025 shows the construction site of the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The 27th edition of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, a renowned seasonal theme park in Harbin, officially began construction on Tuesday. (Photo by Liu Yang/Xinhua)