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A week-long holiday for Spring Festival also means that you can go on a trip. One place you might consider is Jilin Province in Northeast China. That's where you can climb Changbai Mountain, take photos of the rime on riverside trees, relax at a hot-spring spa, and eat an authentic northeastern-style lunar New Year dinner.

Rime on riverside trees.

Changbai Mountain is getting ready for everyone who wishes to have a unique Spring Festival Holiday experience. Everywhere one can see piles of corn and grain, home-made liquor, wild vegetables and various mushrooms. Locals decorate their houses with red lanterns and display paper-cuts in their windows to help spread the festive atmosphere.

In order to welcome tourists from all over the world, many of the local holiday resorts are now upgraded with first-class lodging, fine dining and tour packages.

Ding Chibing, catering dept. manager of Lanjing Hot Spring Resort, said, "Most of the dishes on the menu are exclusively served here in Changbai Mountain, and we present it exactly how the local people celebrate the festival."

While the mountain is covered by snow, tourists take the opportunity to do some skiing and snowboarding. Even the ticket office is built of snow, with a giant "Fu" carved on top.

Beautiful scenery in winter

For decades, Jilin gained nationwide fame among travellers because of the rime. Now tourists can see it at the foot of Changbai Mountain as well. River water is heated by the nearby power station. In the colder night air, rime and icicles form on tree branches; then when the sun comes up, the golden rays polish the frosty surface into a million sparkling crystals.

Local residents say that the beauty of rime only gets better each day around this time of year. That's why professional and amateur photographers are a common sight here every winter.

It's minus 30 degrees Celsius outside, but you can still strip down and jump into the hot springs. There are about 100 volcanic spring baths in the Changbai Mountain area, most of which stay at 60 degrees Celsius all year around. Now the heaven-sent spring community has developed into a spa resort.

Ms Zhou, tourist from Shenzhen, said, "It's so unbelievable, I've never experienced anything like this. I can still feel the winter chill over my head, but I am sweating!"

Soaking in a hot volcanic spring is not only a self-indulgent relaxation, but it's also a recommended form of physical therapy. And if you can't take a dip, perhaps you can take a sip, as the local mineral water industry has also taken off in recent years.

 

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