Winter sports are gaining popularity in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province, local media reported.

During the just-concluded seven-day Spring Festival holiday, local ice skating and skiing facilities and resorts received more tourists than usual.

People ice skate at a shopping mall in Qingdao during the Spring Festival holiday. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

Pu Jiao, head of the Cangma Mountain Ski Resort in the Qingdao West Coast New Area, said that the resort received an average of about 1,800 tourists a day over the Spring Festival holiday, and its daily turnover exceeded 300,000 yuan ($46,380), up 40 percent from the same period in 2019.

Su Xuyao, general manager of the Jinshan Ski Resort in Jimo district, said that the resort received about 1,200 tourists per day and made more than 800,000 yuan in income over the holiday, much higher than the same period in previous years, despite visitor capacity restrictions due to the pandemic.

A young girl attends a figure skating event in Qingdao. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

Qingdao is now home to 13 ice and snow sports venues, including nine skiing venues (eight outdoor, one indoor) and four skating venues. Two of them were closed to the public during the festival, while the other had to be reserved in advance, along with other measures to contain the COVID-19 epidemic.

Over the seven-day holiday, Qingdao held a series of activities and promotional events related to winter sports, which proved popular among the public.

In addition, according to incomplete statistics, more than 80,000 trips were made to ice and snow sports venues in Qingdao, providing a boost to nearby catering, shopping, transportation, and other businesses.

Qingdao, along with Yantai, Weifang, Weihai, and Rizhao, signed a strategic cooperation agreement on Jan 27 to establish an ice and snow sports industry promotion association in the Jiaodong Economic Circle, which is expected to further increase the popularity of winter sports.