Skiing is gaining popularity in Northern China and this trend is coinciding with China’s preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. (Photo : Getty Images)
In Liupanshui, a city in Guizhou Province, people are flocking to take part in winter sports. The city has surprised many, transforming the area into a high-altitude ski resort for the winter tourism industry, according to a report by the China Daily.
Skiing is gaining popularity in Northern China and this trend is coinciding with China’s preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The recent Spring Festival Holiday has witnessed various similar suburban resorts popping up.
For a skiing resort to be propagating in the country’s relatively warmer southwestern regions is extremely rare, but three new resorts are taking advantage of the craze around skiing.
Three resorts, a national spectacle
More than 5,000 visitors attended the five-day National Youth Alpine Skiing Invitational Tournament from Jan. 15 to 19, held at the Yushe Snow Mountain Resort and Meihuashan International Ski Resort.
Situated on the outskirts of the city, the resort received almost half of the visitors from nearby provinces, with many of them experiencing the thrill of ski sports for the first time. A nearby resort, Wumeng Yunhai in Pan county, was also receiving many visitors.
"I'd heard about skiing and watched it on TV, and knew how popular it is, especially among people in Northeast China, but I never had a chance to try it until today," says Wei Lijun, a local resident who was lucky enough to receive a free pass on the opening day of the tournament.
The three resorts combine for an average altitude of 2,200 meters and have a capacity of 20,000 visitors. In addition, all three operate nine skiing trails
For Zhang Yuying, a competitor during the tournament, she was in disbelief at the achievement and experience.
"I had no idea that a ski resort could be built in the southern part of the country. It feels so different from the teeth-chattering training sessions at snow-capped resorts in the north; the trees are still green here and we don't need to dress like polar bears during our warm-ups," she says.
