Over half a million people come to the city, the capital of Lapland, every year, with over half of that number of tourists from outside Finland. The city has perfectly played up its isolation by marketing itself as a family and ecologic destination, a spot offering an exotic experience at Europe's front door.

 

　　Russians make up 16 percent of all foreign visitors. But, as Katja Ikaheimo-Lankinen, the director of Santa Park, explains that countries under austerity are turning up in big numbers too:

 

　　"Within the UK, we were actually expecting there to be less, but there has actually been an increase within the UK market. Russia's market it is big. We expected the Spanish market to go, but perhaps they come for that special feeling and that special magic of Christmas."

 

　　Just 40 kilometers from Rovaniemi, tourists can visit the most northern zoo in the world at the Ranua Wildlife Park.

 

　　Polar bears, wolves and reindeer can be seen up close. A trek through the park to see the animals at subzero temperatures seems to be a real treat for Southern Europeans.

 

　　Marguriet Bouron, an exchange student from France, is dazzled by this alien environment:

 

　　"It's amazing! First of all, in France it is impossible to have that sort of cold. So much snow everywhere, it is really amazing. All the lakes have ice; you can step on it, the skiing, the snowmobile, safari, it is making Christmas a fairytale."

 

　　The Arctic Snow Hotel in Sinett, Finland, about an hour drive from Rovaniemi, has saunas where one can go in completely dressed, rather than naked or wrapped in a towel.

 

　　The sauna is made up entirely of ice and snow. The hotel owner Ville Havekko claims it is the only snow sauna in Finland:

 

　　"I just wanted to make something very unique. To put cold and hot together, the combination, it is amazing."

 

　　Most tourists to this exotic venue will want to take a memento home with them to remember the trip. But much of what is on hand is just trinkets.

 

　　At Taigkoru Jewellers in Rovaniemi, Juha Janger makes rings, amulets, broaches and earrings with locally sourced gold and silver.

 

　　His designs reflect the use of animal pictograms found in Lappish ancient shamanistic beliefs.

 

　　"Stories, story is most important thing. All the things we are doing, they are pictures from the stories. All the shaman drum stories, all the traditional Lappish models, they all have very excellent and ancient stories."

 

　　Local restaurants also offer a variety of regional delicacies.

 

　　In downtown Rovaniemi, a popular restaurant, Nili, offers a menu entirely made of Lappish traditional foods like reindeer, salmon, traditional cheeses and berries. The restaurant has a full service every night of the year, high season and low, from five o'clock in the evening to 11 at night.

 

　　Business has been kind to this faraway place, and Finland hopes tourists will continue to flock there, if for no other reason than to say that they, like earlier adventurers, have been to the Arctic Circle and beyond.

 

　　For CRI, I am Li Dong.