+88

What a considerate BF, he spent extra money to hire a professional
instructor for me.:p

The Westin and Sheraton are 700 and 600 respectively during Jan/Feb/Mar ex Chinese New Year. Pretty much a bargain and cheaper than the two HIs there.

Summer is extremly busy at NBS/CGQ, same for hotel rates.

I can completely understand that. Managed to get some skiing in Banff this year (was at a meeting there) and it's wonderful to ski in a superb environment. Not sure that will make any difference to my daughter on a bunny slope however (except for the language/ quality of instruction)...

tb

Last time I checked was for December. If the prices have come down - well great.

I've skied in the CR when it was -25C, it was insane and I won't do it again.

Anybody go to Changbaishan recently?

How are the hotels, and is it true ski-in / ski-out?

This was on a hill next to Yabuli, a disorganized mess.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...13107975_o.jpg


Yabuli itself had some decent terrain, perhaps similar to Snoqualmie in Washington.

Doesn't even look like a ski hill to me. Similar to what we have around Beijing.

There are some pretty steep slopes inside the bird nest.

http://www.fis-ski.com/mm/Photo/Phot...49_G08_W01.jpg

How's the Changbai snow around Xmas time?

I plan to arrive at the local airport, but going onwards to Harbin seems tricky. Any suggestions?

Normally you have the first snow at the end of october.
At xmas you should have enough for skiing.

To go to Haerbin is not that difficult.
You can take a bus from Changbaishan to Antu first.
In Antu take the HSR to Haerbin.
There are 3 fast trains from Antu West to Haerbin, one in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.
You also have a night train from the old train station.
The new railway station in Antu is close to the city and not far away from the long distance bus station.
Taxi is just 5 yuan (like every ride within the city).

There are also a lot of private drivers you can hire at Changbaishan to drive you to Antu (about 200 yuan).

Or you can take a train from Baihe to Longjing (a little bit more than 3 hours), take a bus or taxi to Yanji (not far away) and enter the fast train there.
But this is a longer journey and the fast train from Yanji to Haerbin stops in Antu too.
So I wouldn´t recommend you this way.

There´s also a direct flight from Changbaishan to Haerbin with Okay Airways but not every day.

Getting to Changbai Mtn via HSR
 

Some helpful info I found after reading previous poster's suggestions. Directions to CBS from major cities in Jilin:

1) Take HSR to Changchun, which is directly linked to Dalian, Shenyang, and Haerbin.

2) Take HSR from Changchun to Dunhua or further east to Antu.

3) Drive 4:45 from Dunhua to Songjianghe (ski resort), or 3:45 (Erdao)Baihe (N entrance to CBS Heaven lake).

Alternately, fly into and/or out of NBS airport.

Dunhua<->Changchun HSR (96 min)
http://www.chinatraveldepot.com/Chin...veStation=1644

Changchun<->Haerbin HSR (1 hr)
http://www.chinatraveldepot.com/Chin...veStation=1644

China high speed rail map:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/chin...ailway-map.htm

qpr, Thanks for the info. - It should be published in the Lonely Planet guidebook, because the info isn't there right now!

From Changbaishan resort (Songjianghe) to Antu is 6 hours by car, so are you sure it's 200 kuai? - I just want to make sure my coordinates are right.

My goal now is to spend my last day in Changbaishan Heaven lake (N slope), and get fairly close to Haerbin by end of day.

Before my last day, I'll overnight in (Erdao)Baihe, catch an early shuttle to Heaven lake, get back to Baihe in afternoon, and arrive in Dunhua before 21:00. Seems like I can then catch a high speed as far as Changchun. Overnight in Changchun and catch the 1hr train to Haerbin.

Does this sound like an efficient plan, with plenty of time (or too much time) in Heaven lake during winter?

Also, one online review mentioned that you can ski cross-country down the real Changbai mtn. Do you know if we can rent snowboards to go down?

From Changbaishan to Antu it´s about 170 km.
In summer you need about 3 hours, in winter more and it can happen that roads are closed due to the bad weather condition.

http://img5.fotos-hochladen.net/uplo...j0l9osea4f.jpg

This pic is from Antu.

If you can go back to Dunhua in time, I don´t know.
It really depends on the weather condition.

About Heaven Lake.
Sometimes the park is closed when the snowfall is too heavy.
You can´t go to Heaven Lake by direct bus.
First you have to take a shuttle bus from the entry to the main station inside the park (ask the hotel for a ticket, you don´t have t owait in line in the morning although in winter it´s not very busy).
At the main station you have to change the bus and take a mini van up to Heaven Lake.
I was there a few times in the summer but in winter time it´s not really funny to hang around there for a longer time.

Sorry can´t say anything about snowboards as I´m not a skiing fan.
Although I lived in Antu I mostly tried to avoid Changbaishan in winter.

Got it. Sounds like we won't stay outside for long during the winter, but the hot springs looks like a way to pass some time. We'll plan for 4 hours minimum from Baihe to Dunhua by bus. There might be a train on this route, which I'm inclined to take if it's more reliable than driving.