Tourists enjoy a hot spring experience in the ice and snow at the Qinghe Peninsula Hot Spring Resort Hotel in Shenyang, Liaoning province. [PHOTO/XINHUA]

As the golden hue of dusk washed across the sky, Xu Xin wrapped up her day of skiing at a Changbai Mountain resort in Jilin province, and headed for a bath in an outdoor hot spring.

"The combination of chilly weather and a hot spring is an experience. I immersed my body in steamy water while watching snowflakes fall on a pristine white landscape. Eventually, my fatigue dissolved," says Xu, who is from Shandong province.

Recently, this fusion of "hot and cold" has been gaining popularity on the itineraries of winter tourists flocking to China's northeastern provinces, namely Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang.

Cultural tourism feast

In the mountainous village of Naitoushan in Jilin's Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture, visitors often unwind in hot springs after hiking snowy trails, or admiring ice sculptures or rime-covered branches, even as temperatures plunge below — 20 C.

"Most of our visitors are from southern China, while international travelers primarily come from Malaysia, Singapore and the United States," says Yang Lina, an operator of the village's cultural tourism project. She says that about 31,000 visitors arrived during the eight-day Spring Festival holiday this year.

Dubbed China's "ice city", Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, recently hosted the 2025 Asian Winter Games, spotlighting its appeal to global winter sports enthusiasts. The city is also home to the Harbin Ice-Snow World, the world's largest theme park of its kind, known for its grand ice sculptures, slides and entertainment facilities.