'Little potato' tourism heats up China's northeast

Social media, novels and dramas have helped draw attention to Harbin, a frigid city near the North Korea border

- AFP

Animal ears and pom-poms on fuzzy hats adorn tourists' heads on the streets of the frigid northeastern Chinese city of Harbin, which is enjoying a surge in visitors driven by social media.

Photos and videos taken around the city's landmarks flood platforms such as TikTok counterpart Douyin and Instagram-esque Xiaohongshu—many featuring tourists from the warmer south.

They're affectionately known as "southern little potatoes," a reference to their alleged smaller stature and cutesy winter gear that contrast with the area's stereotypically coarse character.

A search for "southern little potatoes visit the north" racked up more than 428,000 notes on Xiaohongshu.

That's where Chen Xiting, who works in e-commerce in the southern province of Guangdong, said she was inspired to visit.

"It's the quickest way young people get trip recommendations," said Chen.

She said she had noticed a sizeable number of fellow southerners. "I heard quite a bit of Cantonese, which we're very familiar with, today at tourist sites and on the street," said the 29-year-old, wearing a hat with dog ears and with only her face exposed to the air.