Tourists head to Chongli over the Lunar New Year holiday to try their hands at skiing. (Photo : Getty Images)
With the revelry that comes with the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year, Hebei's Chongli County has seen an influx of Chinese tourists who wish to try their hands at skiing, China Radio International reported.
Located on the outskirts of Zhangjiakou, Chongli is about 220 kilometers northwest of the Chinese capital, Beijing.
Over the past years, Chongli has been increasingly famous as a must-visit tourist destination. It gained more popularity when the International Olympic Committee granted Beijing and Zhangjiakou the opportunity to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
"I used to spend the Lunar New Year holiday touring around the city and visiting relatives, getting money in my hongbao," one visiting Chinese shared. "This year, I spent all that money I saved over the previous holidays to buy skis and the passes to the ski resorts. I love skiing. I really do."
Since the bid for the Winter Olympics, the government has been actively promoting skiing and other winter sports.
With five well-equipped ski resorts, Chongli has also carved its status as a training center for experienced skiers.
Wang Zhong, a ski instructor from Beijing, said that he has moved his training sessions to the county to utilize the equipment, noting that "many amateurs from Beijing have come to Chongli to practice their skiing skills."
"Many have been improving quickly," Wang added. "We used to train our students at local ski resorts in Beijing, but they aren't good enough for students who want to actually improve. So this is why we decided to come here last year."
Previously, authorities of the nearby provinces of Beijing expressed their plan to establish a winter sports industry worth multi-billion yuan.
Local officials are hopeful that they can transform Hebei into a leading winter sports destination in time for the much anticipated 2022 Winter Olympics.
The plan covers the construction of high-end venues for winter sports in the 11 major cities of Hebei in the next eight years.
Since 2016 kicked off, Chongli County has already attracted around 100,000 visitors.
