The State Administration of Radio Film and Television has said guests of China’s three-star hotels or above can watch no more than 31 foreign TV channels in hotel rooms as of this year.

The channels are CNN, HBO, Cinemax, CNBC Asia Pacific, MTV Mandari, National Geographic Channel Asia, STAR Movie International, Channel V, AXN, Discovery, Hallmark, BBC World, NHK World Premium, Phoenix Movies, Phoenix Chinese, TVB8, TVB Galaxy, NOW, MASTV Chinese, Phoenix Infonews Channel, Bloomberg, Xing Kong Wei Shi, Euro Sports News, CETV, Horizon Channel, SUNTV, Celestial Movies, Channel NewsAsia, TV5, East TV and Cuba Vision International.

Note this does not include ESPN which is where most Americans turn for sports news. What then of the Olympics?
Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union

Winter, for many hotels, is a peak period. This is especially so in the northern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Heilongjiang was the first province in the country to see the potential of developing its resources as a major winter tourist attraction. Its winter lasts for about four months with heavy snowfalls throughout the period. It has more than 70 ski resorts and 150 ski slopes, accounting for more than 60 percent of China’s winter resort facilities.

Last spring festival Heilongjiang recieved some 3.2 million visitors so that tourism is one of the key drivers of the province’s economic growth.

Harbin, Heilongjiang’s capital, is famous for its annual ice and snow extravaganzas. According to the Heilongjiang Daily Harbin’s hotel occupancy rate during the period last year was more than 80%.
It does ice and snow sculptures in a big, big way. Two sculptures, ‘Crossing the Bering Strait’ and ‘Niagara Falls’ are reported to be 250 meters long and 28 meters high and involve more than 13,000 cubic meters of snow. Application has been made for them to be included as Guinness World Records.

Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province, has introduced from Sweden an international ski competition Vasaloppet China. The event was held at the Jingyuetan Ski Resort.

Liaoning Province is promoting itself as the first stop in Northeast China for enthusiasts of ice and snow sports. The province spent millions of yuan in 2005 to build the Northeast Asia Ski Resort in the Shenyang National Forest Park.

Xinjiang recently held its Silk Road Ice and Snow Festival. Winter tourism earned Xinjiang RMB4.6 billion ($575 million) in 2005.
Source: China Daily

On Boxing Day the Hilton in Sanya, Hainan, celebrated its first birthday with an open air concert at Yalong bay beach, with all proceeds going to a charitable cause - supporting the primary education of 15 local Hainan students. 

Performers featured pianists Kong Xiang Dong and blind artist Zeng Kai, Shanghai musician Li Quan and film actress Huang Sheng Yi. Nearly 700 people attended the live concert.

Dirk de Cuyper, GM of Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa, said ‘We want to give something back to the community and celebrate our first anniversary in a meaningful way.’

The Hilton Sanya has recently begun to work closely with the Kong Xiang Dong Music Arts Centre and 2007 plans involve more concerts being hosted at the Hilton featuring international musicians.
Source: Hilton Press Release