Skiing in China?
 

Curious to hear various experiences of where to go in China.

Have been to the indoor skiing in Shanghai, Minhang district, called Yinqixing.
That was fun.

Also went to Jihua and hour from Harbin. Was interviewed by
the local Harbin TV news while there. Not because I was a laowai,
but I can ski better than their instructors.

There is I believe a better place to ski outside of Harbin called Yabuli.

Beijing has indoor skiing and also they set up some kind of ski school
in the Bird's Nest Stadium.

Other ski places near Beijing: Nanshan Ski Resort, Shijinglong Ski Resort, Huibei Ski Resort, Jundushan Ski Resort, Snow World Ski Resort.

Nothing in China like the Alps or Rocky Mountains, but nonetheless fun.^

side note on Jihua:

They had what looked like a ridiculous amount of ski rental equipment.
I asked how many? They said they have 10,000 pairs of skis for rent.
Well that's China...lots of people.

Google is surely a better resource than FT wrt this topic. Speaking as a skier and a person who has lived in China for extended periods of time, my opinion is that there isn't much to discuss.

The Chinese are really game one. They have KTV and foot massage in the midlevel gondola drop. That's great. zhong guo jia you^

For serious skiing in the area:

Alpine skiing (lifts, combed slopes): Nagano or Hokkaido in Japan (whats better than sushi and sake apres ski?)
Heli skiing (helis, back country): Kamchatka in eastern Russia

The latter is still on my to-do list.

Only skiing i've done in China was at Shijinglong and an indoor slope in Shanghai, and wouldn't recommend either to any advanced skier. A few old chairlifts (think 1970's ski lifts in Europe) with crazy locals racing straight down the slopes without any idea how to stop other than to let themselves fall.

mogul run opens
 

Just did get an email from Nanshan ski hill,

A new mogul run will be open soon. Nanshan is also called south mtn. & is about a 2 hour drive north of BJ. 4 lifts & complete rentals for snow skiing.

even had my size 14 boots...

I still recommend skipping China and heading to Niseko in Japan. Though on a recent flight I saw a special on Yabuli and it looked better and better.

+1

Went there this year and flights already booked to go back in February. Great snow, people, food, atmosphere.
There's a direct flight from Shanghai, made good use of my China Eastern miles.

How's the snow? I went last Feb and it was amazing. But seems like most places are starved for snow this year.

I've been to Beidahu just outside Jilin which I hear is one of the better ski hills in China but it was nothing impressive. I mean, I wasn't expecting something like I'm used to in YYC or YVR but I definitely won't be going again. I'd like to try Hokkaido this year as well... just need to find the time.

I was there Feb 2011 too. Amazing snow. Can't speak for the snow (yet) this season, but hotel manager says it will come.

Oh yeah, were you there early Feb? When they got like 2.5m in 1 week?

back to china?
 

Appreciate the skiing in Japan is likely to better than China. But given financial and work constraints, that's unlikely to happen this year. So if one wanted to ski in BJ environs, which mountains would people recommend. I'm a blue run ability, only one black (easy one) to my name. My wife is better than me, but we'll probably mostly stick to blues.

Ideally we'll do a few day trips rather than overnighters.

Also, what is the youngest age for ski school? I think my daughter is probably a little too young at 2.5, but if they are up for teaching her, I wouldn't mind her going.

tb

Interesting, KL in their recent iFly mag have listed Yabuli as one of their resorts in Asia to promote:

http://www.iflymagazine.com

Moving around upright on skis is not much harder than moving around on feet. Children of 1.5 routinely learn to ski.

Which level/gently undulating areas near Beijing would be nice for cross-country skiing?