The 2012 China Dalian International Hot Spring and Ski Festival kicked off on Dec 15 at Anbo town, a popular hot spring resort in the northern part of Dalian, Liaoning province.

The festival will run until the end of February 2013, with activities held in Anbo and other five locations.

First held in 2007, the festival has become one of the main events of Dalian's winter tourism. In the last five editions, it received more than 1.1 million tourists from home and abroad, earning a total income of 380 million yuan ($60.88 million).

This year, with the opening of Harbin-Dalian high-speed railway, which links three provinces in Northeast China, more tourists from the northeastern region are expected to attend the festival.

Liaoning province is rich in hot spring resources. The provincial government is striving to make it "China's No 1 Province for Hot Spring Tourism".

In order to implement the provincial government's strategy, Dalian is building major projects for hot spring tourism.

During the 12th Five Year Plan (2011-15), Dalian is expected to build 52 hot spring projects each with investments of more than 100 million yuan. Currently, 34 of them are under construction, with the total investment reaching 66.2 billion yuan.