This winter, Harbin attracted tons of attention, it appeared on the most searched list almost every day. During the three days of New Year Holiday, Harbin has received more than 3 million tourists and achieved a total tourism revenue of nearly 6 billion RMB, creating a "new miracle" of urban tourism, far surpassing Sanya, the "winter resort".

"Zibo Barbecue" flooded the screen in the summer, later the "Southern Little Potatoes" bravely embarked on a tour in Harbin. Cities are getting hyped one after another and what are the secret behind that?

Rich Resources

Being a famous icy and snowy city in northern China, Harbin possesses rich ice and snow resources, providing a unique experience for tourists; a large number of historic European architecture, where visitors can feel the collision and blend of Chinese and Western culture; Harbin's special cuisine, such as Bingtanghulu, Modern ice lolly, attracted many customers to taste. Harbin itself has always had these abundant tourism resources, but what is missing is  an opportunity to be paid attention to.

Sincerity

Locals picking up tourists free of charge, warm rooms available everywhere... With the diversification of tourists' demand, Harbin’s services on tourists' demand are constantly enriching, bringing unexpected ideas to everyone every day, bringing us the enthusiasm and sincerity of the people in the northeast of China. According to the government, they have been preparing for this ice feast for a year, so that's why they can act quickly against the demands of tourists, receiving wave after wave of praise from tourists and creating a virtuous circle.

Social Media

The social media marketing had played a huge role in making Harbin being famous overnight.  In the era of digital world, social media platforms enlarge every single detail. More and more people start to understand and to love Harbin through the praise from the tourists after their experience, as well as the recommendation of KOLs and influencers. In addition,  the emergence of Internet trendy nicknames such as "Southern Little Potatoes", "Guangxi Clementine" and so on keep the hype last for even a longer time.

The same had happened to Zibo as well, bringing the city on viral in 2022. At the beginning, it was just some students from Shandong University thanking Zibo for their careful care during the epidemic period who then spontaneously promoted Zibo on various media platforms. Internet is the crucial component of the entire story of Zibo becoming a viral topic.

Harbin unexpectedly went viral had also driven the tourism industry of surrounding cities. Netizens from all over the country have called their own bureaus of Culture and Tourism to take action. Local cultural and tourism bureaus also invited many celebrities to speak for their hometown, making netizens feel "awesome". Different cities warmly interacted with each other, exchanged local products, and even had a thorough survey of provincial agriculture, which also brought many hidden industries into the public view. National netizens discussed online, and the friendship between the people of different provinces was greatly enhanced, presenting a harmonious scene of the whole country.

Through the sudden popularity of Harbin, we can see the huge potential of China's tourism industry after the pandemic. We hope to see more similar terms in the future! Of course, temporary popularity does not equal to permanent success. The key factor to the long-term development of cultural tourism is to understand how to make sustainable development plans, finding the advantages, showing the characteristics, letting this wave of change to become the real driver behind the success.