A ski resort in Heihe, Heilongjiang, China's northernmost province, yesterday became the country's first to open its slopes this winter.

The Heihe Longzhu Far East International Ski Resort, on the China-Russia border, opened its gates to about 200 tourists from both countries yesterday.

"Our ski resort is the only one in China that can open this early," said Zhu Tingcai, manager of the resort.

As most tourist resorts begin to see visitor numbers drop off with the on set of cold weather, attractions in Heilongjiang gear up for their busiest time of year.

"Heilongjiang's rich ice and snow resources are an invaluable treasure waiting for exploitation," said Shi Weijie, deputy secretary-general of the provincial government.

A province where winter lasts for almost six months, Heilongjiang has been investing in ice and snow-related activities to boost tourism and the local economy.

This year, the province has plans to double the size of its annual exhibition of ice and snow artworks in Harbin, the provincial capital. This year the show will cover 40 hectares.

According to the plan, the world's largest restaurant built of ice, along with the world's highest ice clock tower an imitation of the clock tower in Moscow's Red Square will also be built later this year.

Governments at different levels in the province have discovered a gold mine in the ice and snow entertainment industry.

Last year, about 1.3 million Chinese and foreign visitors went skiing in the province's more than 70 ski resorts, said Shi Weijie.

Of those, some 50,000 went to the Heihe ski resort, said the manager, Zhu.

"Though still in its early stage of development, ice and snow are already becoming an industry. There is a lot of potential to be tapped."

(China Daily November 11, 2005)