China Snow Town — 中国雪乡 (Zhōngguó Xuěxiāng) — is the one place in the country where winter looks almost fake. A forestry settlement of a few hundred households sits in a mountain saddle where moisture off the Sea of Japan piles onto the Changbai ranges and refuses to blow away. Roofs grow 雪蘑菇 ("snow mushrooms"), snow reaches two metres deep, and the season runs up to seven months.
It is also the most misunderstood stop on the Northeast winter circuit. Foreign visitors routinely try to see it as a day trip from Harbin (it is 4.5–6 hours each way), pay for a suspiciously cheap tour that excludes the ¥140 park ticket, and arrive in the single most expensive week of the Chinese year without a bed booked. This guide fixes that: what is confirmed for the 2026-27 season, the real ticket and transport prices, the official "honest price" list you can hold a tour operator to, and how to bolt on Yabuli — China's largest ski area.
Xuexiang is neither a resort nor a theme park: it is a forestry work camp that became a tourist village — Shuangfeng forest farm, run by the Dahailin Forestry Bureau inside the Xuexiang National Forest Park near Changting town. It sits at roughly 1,200 m, where the Zhangguangcai and Laoye ranges meet the northern spine of the Changbai mountains, between Harbin, Mudanjiang and the Russian border country.
The geography is the whole story. Winter lows off Siberia meet humid air from the Sea of Japan, and the mountains trap the result. Snow starts falling in October, accumulates rather than melts, and rarely gets blown off — the local saying is "夏无三日晴，冬雪漫林间" (no three clear days in summer; snow fills the forest all winter). The signature look comes from wooden cabins, fences and stumps wearing rounded caps of packed snow, and from 雪韵大街 (Snow Rhyme Street), the lantern-lit main lane of guesthouses and food stalls.
Snow Town is the middle stop of the classic loop: Harbin (Ice and Snow World, Central Street, Sun Island) → Yabuli (skiing) → Snow Town (village snowscapes) → back through Harbin or onward to Changbai Mountain or Mohe. Almost everyone who regrets their Snow Town visit did it as a rushed add-on rather than as one or two nights in the loop.
Heilongjiang opened its 2026-2027 ice-and-snow season on 12 October 2026 with a provincial promotion launch in Guangzhou. There the organisers confirmed the 28th Harbin Ice-Snow World will expand to 1.25 million square metres using 400,000 cubic metres of ice and snow, with more than 1,000 structures and six themed zones — the largest edition yet, and a signal of the scale of the season Snow Town belongs to. Harbin's park drew a record 120,000 visitors in a single day in February 2026.
Not yet published is Snow Town's own 2026-27 opening date. The area opens when the snow base is right, usually on a few days' notice; the 2025-26 season opened at 00:00 on 17 November 2025 and closed on 4 March 2026 — 107 open days and about 1.526 million visitors. Plan for a mid-to-late November 2026 start and an early-March finish, then confirm once the official notice appears.
The demand side is running hot. At the 2026 promotion event Heilongjiang reported 150 million visitor trips and ¥245.47 billion in tourism spending for the 2025-26 ice-and-snow season, and the 2026 China Ice-and-Snow Industry Development Report, released in Beijing on 15 October 2026, put national ice-and-snow participation at 308 million people, ice-and-snow tourism at about 220 million trips and the industry past ¥1 trillion. The State Council guideline from 2024 targets a ¥1.2 trillion ice-and-snow economy by 2027. In practice: book early, especially for the New Year and Spring Festival weeks.
| Window | Conditions | Crowds & prices |
|---|---|---|
| 17–30 November | Snow base established, snow mushrooms forming; some attractions and eateries still opening | Quietest and cheapest; some tours not yet running daily |
| 1–20 December | Full winter look, daytime around −10 to −18°C | Best value window — before the holiday surge |
| 21 December – 2 January | Peak look, coldest light | New Year peak: official guidance allows tour prices to rise 30–50% |
| 3 January – 5 February | Deepest, driest cold; best photography | Busy weekends, mid-week gaps |
| 6 February onward (Spring Festival, ~2 weeks) | Festive lanterns and food markets, extreme cold | The single most expensive and crowded window of the Chinese year |
| Late February – early March | Warmer days, snow still deep, ice sculptures softening | Cheapest; some ice attractions close early |
If your trip is fixed to the Spring Festival, treat Snow Town as a booking project, not a whim: the 2025-26 season ran a reserved-ticket system during the holiday period precisely because walk-ups overwhelm the village.
| Item | Price (per person) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Park entry — peak season (1 Nov – 30 Apr) | ¥140 | Set under Mudanjiang Development and Reform Commission price documents (2024 No. 4 and No. 5) |
| Park entry — off season (1 May – 31 Oct) | ¥70 | Cheap green-season forest visit; no snow |
| Sightseeing shuttle, round trip | ¥15 | Optional — you may walk; not compulsory |
| Ticket validity | — | 48 hours, with re-entry inside the validity window |
| Concessions | Free / half price | Children under 1.2 m and licensed tour guides free; statutory discounts for students, seniors, serving military, disabled visitors and police |
| Booking | — | Real-name online ticketing through the scenic area's e-commerce site or its WeChat account; bring your passport — ticket offices have passport readers |
Buy in advance: in the last two seasons the gate ran on real-name reservation with photo capture at first entry, and holidays sold out. The scenic area's hotline is 400-000-0453 (Chinese-language).
The ¥140 ticket covers the village and the main street, not the surrounding attractions. Sold separately, and routinely bundled into "premium" tour tiers, are the 梦幻家园 (Dream Home) performance venue, the 冰雪画廊 (Ice Gallery), the 大雪谷 (Great Snow Valley) trek, 羊草山 (Yangcao Mountain) sunrise trips, snowmobile rides, husky sledding and the 马拉爬犁 horse-drawn sled. Budget ¥100–400 per person if you want two or three of them, and ask in writing which are included before you pay for a tour.
| Option | Time | Indicative cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonal direct coach (景区直通车) | ~6 h from Harbin; ~2 h from Yabuli West | ¥120 from Harbin; ¥85 from Yabuli West (2024-25 fares) | Independent travellers on a budget |
| High-speed rail + road transfer | 1.5–2 h by rail, then 2 h by road | Rail fare plus coach/taxi; ¥85 coach leg | Combining Yabuli skiing with Snow Town |
| Licensed tour or private car with driver | 4.5–6 h door to door | From ¥900 per vehicle per day | Families, luggage, tight schedules |
Snow Town runs dedicated coaches (直通车) once the season opens, bookable through the Longyun group's 龙悦出行 (Longyue Travel) WeChat mini program. In the 2024-25 season buses left Harbin's Central Street at 06:30 and 08:30, reached Yabuli West around 09:10 and Snow Town around 12:30, with returns from 09:00. Re-confirm times and fares when the 2026-27 service opens — this corridor is rebuilt every season.
Take the Harbin–Mudanjiang high-speed line to Yabuli West (亚布力西) in about 1.5–2 hours. The station is about 25 km from the Yabuli ski zone, and roughly two further hours by road from Snow Town along the scenic Yaxue highway. There is no railway station at Snow Town itself. Book seats on 12306 or through your hotel; see our high-speed rail guide for foreigners.
Direct road transfer from Harbin takes 4.5–6 hours depending on weather and holds. Winter road conditions on the mountain sections can close routes at short notice, so a driver who knows the corridor is worth the money in January. If you drive yourself, note that some rental agreements and most standard policies exclude winter mountain driving and winter sports — check the wording in our travel insurance guide and car rental guide.
Harbin's Tourism Association publishes an annual 诚信价 ("honest price") list so visitors can recognise artificially cheap tours. The 2025-26 list, issued on 1 November 2025 on the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism website, remains the best benchmark for the coming season:
| Route | Standard tour | Premium tour | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harbin – Yabuli, one day | ¥298 | ¥698 | Lunch, return coach, 3 hours on beginner runs (+ snow clothing, world's-longest slide, horse sled, snow play on premium) |
| Harbin – Snow Town, two days | ¥850 | ¥1,350 | 3 main meals + breakfast, one night in a guesthouse, return coach, Snow Town park ticket, guide, insurance |
| Harbin – Yabuli – Snow Town, three days | ¥1,180 | ¥1,980 | 5 meals + 2 breakfasts, guesthouse night in Snow Town plus hotel night in Yabuli, both park and ski components |
| Harbin – Mohe, six days | ¥2,680 | ¥3,380 | Hotels/guesthouses, overnight sleeper rail, local transport, major attraction tickets |
Peak-period surcharge is explicitly allowed at 30–50% during late December, the New Year holiday and the Spring Festival holiday. So when you see a two-day Snow Town tour advertised at ¥300 in January, something has been removed: usually the ¥140 park ticket, the shuttle, a meal — or a shopping stop has been added to recover the margin.
Yabuli (亚布力) is China's largest and oldest ski zone, about 280 km southeast of Harbin, and the natural partner for Snow Town because the two share a road and rail corridor. It hosted the 1996 Asian Winter Games and again the 9th edition in February 2025, which funded a real upgrade of runs, lifts and hotels.
| Detail | Practical value |
|---|---|
| Terrain | Seven to eight resorts inside the zone, about 49 marked runs from beginner to double-black, longest vertical around 912 m |
| Getting there | High-speed rail Harbin West → Yabuli West, ~1.5–2 h; ski zone is about 25 km from the station with shuttles |
| Lift tickets | Roughly ¥200–480 for a day pass, ¥150–300 for 2-hour access; small entrance fee of about ¥10 |
| Equipment & lessons | Rental on site; English-speaking instructors bookable at roughly US$85 for three hours |
| Season | Mid-November to late March; the 2025-26 season opened on 7 November 2025, so expect an early-to-mid November 2026 start |
The classic three-day shape is Yabuli first, Snow Town second: arrive by rail, ski a day and a half, transfer two hours by road to the village, sleep among the snow mushrooms, then return to Harbin. For a wider comparison of Chinese resorts — including Chongli, an hour from Beijing by rail — see our China ski resorts guide and the China winter travel guide.
Accommodation is almost entirely family-run guesthouses (民宿) with heated brick beds (炕) and shared or basic bathrooms; the village has no large hotel. Rooms sell out weeks ahead for the New Year and Spring Festival windows, and the honest-price list exists partly because bundled guesthouse beds are where cheap tours quietly cut corners. Book through the scenic area's official channel or a licensed agency, and confirm in writing: room type, number of beds, whether the bathroom is en-suite, and the total price including meals.
Foreign guests are registered by the accommodation — bring your passport and expect the standard hotel registration process, explained in our accommodation registration guide. Payment is near-universally by phone; set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you arrive using our payment guide, and carry a little cash for small stalls.
Prices inside the park run above Harbin city levels, as in any scenic area: check the printed price list before ordering, and take advantage of the free hot water and ginger tea at the village warming stations.
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| Snow Town | 雪乡 | Xuěxiāng |
| Entrance ticket | 门票 | ménpiào |
| Sightseeing shuttle | 观光车 | guānguāngchē |
| Direct shuttle coach | 直通车 | zhítōngchē |
| Guesthouse | 民宿 | mínsù |
| Heated brick bed | 炕 | kàng |
| Yabuli | 亚布力 | Yàbùlì |
| Ski resort / ski equipment | 滑雪场 / 雪具 | huáxuěchǎng / xuějù |
| Instructor | 教练 | jiàoliàn |
| Cold-weather clothing | 防寒服 | fánghán fú |
| Iron-pot stew | 铁锅炖 | tiěguōdùn |
| Frozen pear | 冻梨 | dònglí |
| How much is it? | 多少钱？ | duōshao qián? |
| I do not want a shopping stop | 我不要购物点 | wǒ bú yào gòuwù diǎn |
| Complaint hotline | 12345 热线 | 12345 rèxiàn |
If you want the densest, most photogenic snow scenery in China and will travel five to six hours and sleep in a simple guesthouse, yes — the "snow mushroom" village has no real equivalent in the Northeast. If you want a hotel bed and a day-trip format, Yabuli or Harbin's own ice park serves you better. Snow Town rewards people who give it a night or two.
Not yet published at the time of writing. The area opened at 00:00 on 17 November in both recent seasons and closed in early March, so a mid-to-late November 2026 start is the working assumption — the decision is snow-driven and can slip by a week or two either way.
Technically yes, and tours sell it that way, but that is roughly six hours of winter road travel each way for a few hours on site. One night in the village is the minimum that makes the journey worthwhile.
Yes. The round-trip shuttle is ¥15 per person and explicitly optional — you can walk between the gate, the village and the viewpoint. It sits on top of the ¥140 peak entry ticket, and some tours include it while others do not.
By road along the Yaxue highway, about two hours: a seasonal shuttle coach, a booked car, or the Harbin–Snow Town coach that stops at Yabuli West (about ¥85 last published season). There is no rail link to the village.
The village itself is flat, walkable and full of play areas, and children generally love it. The constraints are the cold, the long transfer, basic guesthouse bathrooms and icy surfaces — bring hand warmers and waterproof boots, allow a buffer day, and consider a private car over a coach.
That depends on your nationality and routing, not the destination. Heilongjiang is part of China's 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit scheme through Harbin Taiping International Airport, covering a stay in Harbin; many nationalities also enter visa-free outright. Check the 240-hour transit and visa-free entry guides.
Daytimes run about −10 to −18°C through December and January, with nights below −20°C and real wind chill on exposed ridges. Harbin averages −20 to −25°C at night in January; the village sits higher and feels colder after dark.
Related guides: the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival guide and Harbin city guide; China winter travel 2026-27 and China ski resorts for the wider season; Changbai Mountain, Mohe, Shenyang and Yanji to extend the Northeast loop; plus high-speed rail booking, hotel booking, payment setup, travel budgets and avoiding tourist scams.
Last updated: October 18, 2026. Sources: Snow Town ticket and shuttle pricing under Mudanjiang Development and Reform Commission price documents (2024 No. 4 and No. 5), reported by Harbin Bendibao (17 November 2025); 2025-26 opening, 4 March 2026 closing, 107-day season and about 1.526 million visitors via Xinhua, People's Daily and Science and Technology Daily; Harbin Tourism Association 2025-2026 "honest price" list (诚信价), 1 November 2025, via the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism (wlt.hlj.gov.cn); 2026-2027 season launch and the 28th Harbin Ice-Snow World expansion to 1.25 million square metres with 400,000 cubic metres of ice and snow, Xinhua and China Daily, 12-13 October 2026; Heilongjiang 2025-26 results of 150 million visitor trips and ¥245.47 billion in spending reported at that October 2026 event; 2026 China Ice-and-Snow Industry Development Report, Beijing, 15 October 2026; Yabuli terrain, season opening and lift pricing via resort operator and People's Daily materials (November 2025); Snow Town coach fares and timetables as published for 2024-25. Prices, dates and schedules for 2026-27 are set seasonally — confirm with official channels before booking.