A tour by European media professionals and influencers kicked off on Jan. 13 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The event was organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's International Exchange and Cooperation Bureau, with support from the Harbin Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism.

The group, comprising 21 travel journalists and influencers from the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, gathered in China's "ice city" to experience the deep integration of intangible cultural heritage with ice and snow culture.

On the second day of the tour, delegation members visited the Heilongjiang Vocational College of Art to appreciate the distinctive charm of China's intangible cultural heritage. At the college's paper-cutting studio, neatly arranged works displayed on shelves immediately drew the visitors' attention. From architectural themes showcasing Harbin's unique character to traditional patterns depicting northeast China's folk customs and zodiac stories, the exquisite paper-cutting pieces left the European guests in awe.

European media professionals and influencers experience paper cutting at Heilongjiang Vocational College of Art in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo: People's Daily Online/Shang Cheng)

During the visit, Ni Xiumei, a national-level representative inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, demonstrated traditional window paper-cutting techniques for the delegation. Under Ni's guidance, the European visitors tried their hand at creating their own pieces.

As delegation members stepped into the city's Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo park, they seemed to enter a crystalline fairytale world. Spread across 1.5 million square meters, more than 260 snow sculpture installations dotted the landscape. The main snow sculpture, "Mr. Snowman," towering over 20 meters high, drew gasps of amazement from the European guests, who raised their cameras to capture the spectacular scene.

Photo shows European travel vloggers in front of "Mr. Snowman" at the Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo: People's Daily Online/Shang Cheng)

​The profound fusion of intangible cultural heritage and ice and snow culture offered the delegation a distinctive cross-border cultural experience. European media journalists and travel vloggers alike experienced the charm of Harbin, awarded by U.N. Tourism for its leadership and excellence in the development of ice and snow tourism. They said they would share their observations and experiences in Harbin with European audiences through their lenses, allowing more people to discover the city's rich ice and snow resources and profound cultural heritage.