Foreign media reporter feels the tourism boom on the streets of Harbin

On December 31, 2024, Agence France Presse aired a report titled "China's Cold Northeast Region Boosts with 'Little Potato' Tourism Boom", which was sent from Harbin. The report is compiled as follows:

Tourists wear thick hats with cartoon animal ears and fur balls as they tour the streets of the cold northeastern Chinese city of Harbin. Driven by social media platforms, the number of tourists in this city has surged

On social platforms such as Tiktok and Xiaohongshu, people shared a series of photos and videos taken around the city's landmarks, many of which were taken by tourists from the warm south. They are affectionately known as the 'Southern Little Potatoes'

On Xiaohongshu, there are numerous travelogues of "Southern Little Potato" from Northeast China. Chen Qianting, who works in e-commerce in Guangdong, said that it was after reading Xiaohongshu that she had the idea of going to Northeast China to take a look

Chen Qianting said, "This is the quickest way for young people to get travel recommendations."

The 29 year old girl said she noticed a considerable number of southerners here: "I heard a lot of people speaking Cantonese."

Liu Rong, a student from Sichuan, said he has noticed a surge in videos about Harbin, which shows that the city is striving to attract more southern tourists.

Liu Rong said, "In recent years, especially this year, Harbin's cultural and tourism industry has attached great importance to attracting us southerners." Harbin is the capital of Heilongjiang Province, and the local winter temperature can reach minus 30 degrees Celsius

Statistics show that in the first five months of 2024, the operating revenue of cultural, sports, and entertainment industries above designated size in Heilongjiang Province increased by nearly 60% year-on-year. In the first half of 2024, tourists spent nearly 154 billion yuan on tourism, an increase of about 171%

Some popular novels and TV dramas set in Northeast China have also boosted the trend of traveling to the region

Local tour guide Emily Liu told Agence France Presse reporters, "Harbin has become very fashionable now, and many southerners who we call 'little potatoes' come here for tourism." 30-year-old Jiang Zhonglong stood in front of a nearby tripod, enthusiastically gesturing. He started working at a travel agency in Harbin three years ago

He said that the popularity of the internet is very beneficial to the tourism industry. So many friends, southern potatoes, and tourists have come. On a winter night, in the central street commercial district of this city, pedestrians are constantly flowing on the road

Mr. Ling, 38 years old, comes from the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang. He and his wife came to "check-in" on Central Street, which refers to visiting popular attractions and sharing photos on social media platforms

Mr. Ling said: "We often use social platforms such as Tiktok, and we often see videos promoting Harbin." He said that in the past, he had been affected by negative stereotypes about Northeast China. But when we really came here, we found everything was great, "Mr. Ling said." I have always longed for different cultural experiences - the weather and style here are very different from my hometown. "Nearby, a steady stream of people poured into a store selling Russian goods. Store manager Zhang Zhang said that since 2022, the foot traffic on this commercial street has increased by about twice. She has been working in the area for over 10 years. She said, 'My hometown has suddenly become very popular,' and added that she feels' very proud '