NoneTourists visit the Harbin Ice-Snow World, the world’s largest ice-and-snow theme park, in Harbin, the capital city of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. — Xinhua photo HARBIN (Dec 24): Gliding down an over-500-meter-long ice slide, Zhang Jiajia felt like she was flying, and that her one-minute experience had been worth the hour-plus wait in line. “It’s super exciting. My heart soared with me,” said Zhang, a tourist from east China’s Zhejiang Province, after trying the Super Ice Slide at the iconic Harbin Ice-Snow World, which kicked off its annual run on Saturday. The world’s largest ice-and-snow theme park, the 26th edition of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, officially opened at 10 a.m. in Harbin, the capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province also known as the “city of ice.” Tourists visit the Harbin Ice-Snow World, the world’s largest ice-and-snow theme park, in Harbin, the capital city of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. — Xinhua photo Themed “Dream of Winter, Love among Asia,” the park was built using 300,000 cubic meters of ice and snow, incorporating elements inspired by the upcoming 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games, which will open next February, right after China’s Spring Festival holiday. It is also the first major international ice and snow event hosted by China since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. With an overall planned area of 1 million square meters, up from last year’s 800,000 square meters, the park is the largest in its 26-year history. A tourist poses for photos at the Harbin Ice-Snow World, the world’s largest ice-and-snow theme park, in Harbin, the capital city of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. — Xinhua photo The park features nine major zones, recreating landmark landscapes of 42 countries and 3 regions that are members of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) in the form of ice-and-snow structures that can be illuminated at night, including replicas of the Temple of Heaven in China, Osaka Castle in Japan and the Taj Mahal in India. The main tower stands on the main axis of the park, featuring towering ice columns that depict the official emblem of the OCA. “The ice sculptures are incredibly exquisite. It’s hard to imagine that they are made of ice blocks harvested from the Songhua River. Each piece of artwork showcases the superb craftsmanship of the artists,” said Zhong Xueying, another tourist from Zhejiang. An aerial drone photo shows tourists queuing at the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. — Xinhua photo The most popular attraction in the park, the Super Ice Slide, has increased the number of its lanes to 24, with a 300-meter-long windproof warm house mounted at the queuing area, allowing visitors to take a break from freezing weather while overlooking the park’s scenery. Saturday also marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. The day not only means another solar term but also marks an important festive day on Chinese lunar calendar. Just one hour after the park opened, the queue for the Super Ice Slide stretched hundreds of meters. An aerial drone photo shows the emblem of the 9th Asian Winter Games made of ice at the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. — Xinhua photo In addition to ice-and-snow landscapes, the park has added fantasy shows, virtual reality projects and an immersive digital art museum to its inventory of winter wonders, offering new and exciting experiences for both global and domestic visitors. The “Snow Disco” event, which attracted thousands of tourists last winter, will also be held at the Dream Stage in the park for this year’s edition. “How lucky! Today is the last day of my trip to Harbin, and I didn’t expect to witness the opening of the Ice-Snow World. I’m so happy that it feels like I’m celebrating the Lunar New Year in advance,” said Dai Xiaoqin, a tourist from Wuhan City in Hubei Province. “We wish to showcase the enthusiasm and confidence of the people in participating in ice-and-snow sports, and integrate a variety of new elements into this edition of the park,” said Guo Hongwei, Party secretary and chairman of Harbin Ice-Snow World Co., Ltd. Staff members greet tourists at the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. — Xinhua photo An adult park ticket is priced at 328 yuan (about 45.6 U.S. dollars). The park also offers discounted tickets and free admission to certain groups of visitors. As an established ice-and-snow theme park, Harbin Ice-Snow World stands out as one of China’s iconic winter attractions. It surged in popularity on Chinese social media last winter, becoming an internet sensation as passion for winter sports and tourism continues to rise across the country. Last year, China recorded over 385 million winter leisure visits nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 38 percent, with related revenue up 50 percent. Tourists visit the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. — Xinhua photo In Harbin alone, last snow season saw over 87 million visitors, up 300 percent year on year, and 124.8 billion yuan in tourism revenue, up 500 percent. The 25th edition of the Harbin Ice-Snow World, in particular, received over 2.7 million tourists. To accelerate growth of winter economy in the country’s northeastern region, the Chinese government has recently unveiled initiatives including establishing dedicated ice-and-snow holidays, increasing flight routes and optimizing visa-free policies, all aimed at attracting more domestic and international visitors. — Xinhua
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New York City FC will have the privilege of hosting the first-ever playoff Hudson River Derby against the New York Red Bulls in Saturday's Eastern Conference semifinal. Sixth-seeded NYCFC outlasted FC Cincinnati in a best-of-three Round 1 series despite losing the opening game. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. The aging of the Baby Boomer generation (those born between 1946 and 1964) has significantly increased the share of the U.S. population aged 55+ during the past decade: from 24.9% in 2010, to 30.2% in 2023. And a growing number of these Americans are opting to age in place or downsize—creati... Click for more. American Cities With the Oldest HomebuyersMid-Hudson people ‘on the move’ for the week of Dec. 9, 2024WASHINGTON >> President-elect Donald Trump said today the Republican Party “will use its best efforts” to end daylight saving time, which he called “inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.” “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t!” Trump said on social media. “Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.” Daylight saving time — putting the clocks forward one hour during the summer half of the year to make the most of the longer evenings — has been in place in nearly all of the United States since the 1960s, but has been a topic of debate in recent years. Some lawmakers want to stay on standard time year-round, more are on record calling for remaining on daylight saving time all year, while others want to keep the status quo. President Joe Biden never took a public position on the issue. In March 2022, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to make daylight saving time permanent but the effort stalled in the House after lawmakers said they could not reach consensus. A bipartisan group of senators in March made a new push to make daylight saving time permanent. Supporters of remaining on daylight saving time argue it would lead to brighter afternoons and evenings and more economic activity during the winter months. Critics say it would force children to walk to school in darkness, since the measure would delay sunrise by an hour. Proponents of eliminating daylight saving time altogether say the twice-annual changing of clocks causes sleep disturbance and health issues. Congress has not held any new hearings on the issue for more than two years and the Senate would need to take up the issue again. Year-round daylight saving time was used during World War Two and adopted again in 1973 in a bid to reduce energy use because of an oil embargo, but was unpopular and was repealed a year later. Since 2015, about 30 states have introduced or passed legislation to end the twice-yearly changing of clocks, with some states proposing to do it only if neighboring states do the same.
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RECELL GO mini AVITA Medical receives FDA approval of RECELL GO mini, a new addition to the RECELL Spray-On SkinTM technology platform. RECELL GO mini addresses a critical need in the full-thickness skin defect market, which includes a high volume of smaller wounds. As part of the RECELL GO platform, RECELL GO mini uses the same multi-use processing device as the standard disposable cartridge but features a modified cartridge optimized for smaller skin samples that reduces resource use and minimizes waste. This design provides an entry point for clinicians who may not have previously used the RECELL GO platform for smaller wounds, enabling broader accessibility and use in trauma and burn centers. "The FDA approval of RECELL GO mini strengthens our ability to provide clinicians with fit-for-purpose solutions that meet the diverse needs of patients with full-thickness wounds,” said Jim Corbett, Chief Executive Officer of AVITA Medical. "By introducing a treatment option specifically for smaller wounds, we are expanding the accessibility of RECELL to a wider range of patients. We believe this addition will drive greater adoption across trauma centers, where smaller wounds are common, and support our broader growth strategy.” The company expects RECELL GO mini to serve as a growth driver within the broader RECELL GO platform, further advancing AVITA Medical's strategy to expand its impact on patient care. Rollout will begin with trauma and burn centers that currently treat smaller wounds during the first quarter of 2025. The PMA supplement follows the original PMA of RECELL Autologous Cell Harvesting Device and subsequent PMA supplements. About AVITA Medical, Inc. AVITA Medical is a commercial-stage regenerative medicine company transforming the standard of care in wound care management and skin restoration with innovative devices. At the forefront of our platform is the RECELL System, approved by the FDA for the treatment of thermal burn wounds and full-thickness skin defects, and for repigmentation of stable depigmented vitiligo lesions. RECELL harnesses the regenerative properties of a patient's own skin to create Spray-On Skin TM Cells, delivering a transformative solution at the point-of-care. This breakthrough technology serves as the catalyst for a new treatment paradigm enabling improved clinical outcomes. In the United States, AVITA Medical also holds the exclusive rights to market, sell, and distribute PermeaDerm ® , a biosynthetic wound matrix, and Cohealyx, an AVITA Medical-branded collagen-based dermal matrix. In international markets, the RECELL System is approved to promote skin healing in a wide range of applications including burns, full-thickness skin defects, and vitiligo. The RECELL System, excluding RECELL GO TM , is TGA-registered in Australia, has received CE mark approval in Europe, and has PMDA approval in Japan. To learn more, visit www.avitamedical.com . Forward-Looking Statements Th is press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements generally may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate,” "expect,” "intend,” "could,” "would,” "may,” "will,” "believe,” "continue,” "estimate,” "look forward,” "forecast,” "goal,” "target,” "project,” "outlook,” "guidance,” "future,” and similar words or expressions, and the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the timing and realization of regulatory approvals of our products; physician acceptance, endorsement, and use of our products; anticipated market share growth and revenue generation from certain products; failure to achieve the anticipated benefits from approval of our products; the effect of regulatory actions; product liability claims; risks associated with international operations and expansion; and other business effects, including the effects of industry, as well as other economic or political conditions outside of the Company's control. These statements are made as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any of these statements, except as required by law. For additional information and other important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements, please see the "Risk Factors” section of the Company's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and other publicly available filings for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. Authorized for release by the Chief Financial Officer of AVITA Medical, Inc. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b6b7df71-e67c-4a6e-847c-bdcca54fad27 CONTACT: Investor & Media Contact: Jessica Ekeberg Phone +1-661-904-9269 [email protected] [email protected]
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