According to a recent statement released by the Harbin Auction Company, the starting bid for tanghulu (candied fruits) sales stalls at the 26th Harbin Ice and Snow World is set at 1 million yuan ($137,850), and successful bidders must provide their own container house, sparking discussion among the public.

The statement said that the auction is for a package deal of nine sales stalls and that participators must meet stringent conditions.

Each bidder must have a business license, a food business license and a food production license. All the licenses must have been issued for at least one year to a registered address within Heilongjiang province, and the food production license must include a specific code for candied fruits.

In addition to the licensing requirements, companies participating in the auction must submit quality inspection reports for at least five products from the most recent batch within 10 days of winning the bid.

The registration form in the statement details that a successful bidder must comply with the product specifications and guide prices provided by Ice and Snow World.

Any violation of prices will be met with a warning and a fine of 2,000 yuan. A price violation exceeding 50 percent will be considered a serious violation, and a 5,000 yuan deposit will be deducted.

Moreover, if any complaints from tourists or negative news reports are found in public or news media, a 5,000 yuan deposit will be deducted, and the business qualification will be canceled.

The statement also listed specific requirements for the operating site.

Successful bidders need to prepare container houses themselves, with specific dimensions of 3 meters in length, 3 meters in width and 2.7 meters in height. The exterior of the container houses must be artistically designed to match the overall planning of the park, with an estimated cost of about 50,000 yuan, which the bidder will bear.

The container houses can only officially operate after passing the park's inspection.

"The Harbin Ice and Snow World is a popular winter tourist destination with a high volume of visitors, providing a vast potential consumer market for businesses, such as the candied fruits sales stalls," said Wang Lili, a researcher at the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Science and director of its regional economic research office. "Additionally, the scarcity and uniqueness of the stalls increase their value, which justifies the relatively high starting bid price."

"However, the successful bidder must not only pay a high stall fee but also need to prepare container houses," she said. "Along with costs for decoration, equipment purchase, raw materials, staff wages and adhering to the product specifications and guided prices set by the Ice and Snow World, the profit margin's ability to cover costs and achieve profitability remains highly uncertain, posing significant business risks."

"For bidders, it is crucial to conduct thorough market research and cost calculations, carefully assess their business capabilities and risk tolerance, and develop a reasonable bidding budget and business strategy to avoid blindly following the trend and resulting in investment failure," she advised, adding that relevant regulatory authorities should strengthen oversight of the auction and subsequent business activities to prevent monopolistic practices, price gouging and low-quality products, which may help maintain fair market competition and protect consumers' legitimate interests.

In January, Guinness World Records recognized the Harbin Ice and Snow World as the world's largest ice and snow park. Its combination of ice, snow, sound and lights is the most popular attraction in Harbin. This coming winter season, it will be expanded from 810,000 to 1 million square meters. It is expected to open to the public in mid-December.

During its 61 operating days last season, the venue showcased its ice and snow fairytale world to 2.71 million visitors from home and abroad.