By Ye Zi
For skiing enthusiasts across China, the start of the skiing season marks a celebratory embrace of winter. As temperatures drop nationwide, ski resorts from the country’s snowy north to the subtropical south are opening for the 2025-2026 season, showcasing a diverse and increasingly dynamic landscape for ice-and-snow tourism.
In Chongli, once a host of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in north China’s Hebei province, this year’s snow season kicked off earlier than usual, with the Wanlong Ski Resort officially opening on October 21. Wang Yue, a skiing enthusiast from Beijing, was among the first to hit the slopes. “From Qinghe Station in Beijing, it takes just over an hour to reach Taizicheng Station in Chongli,” he said.
He observed that the station had enhanced its platform guidance services to ensure the safe and efficient handling of ski equipment without disrupting train operations or passenger flow. Convenient shuttle buses were also stationed nearby to transport visitors directly to the ski resort.
Chongli is home to nine ski resorts offering 219 ski runs with a total length of 178 kilometers, 16 of which are certified by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. During the last snow season, Chongli welcomed 5.235 million visitors.
According to data from Chinese on-demand delivery company Meituan, searches for “Chongli skiing” surged by 169 percent year on year beginning in the second week of November 2025. This surge in interest also contributed to a 25 percent year-on-year increase in cultural and tourism bookings for late November in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province.
As November began, multiple ski resorts across Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in northwest China commenced operations. On Nov. 15, the Silk Road International Ski Resort in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, officially opened for the season, attracting more than 8,000 visitors on its first day. Located on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, the resort reaches a peak elevation of 2,500 meters with a vertical drop exceeding 700 meters. The high-altitude terrain provides ideal conditions for skiing, drawing substantial tourist interest.
According to a report released by Chinese online travel services provider Tongcheng Travel, flight bookings from major cities to popular ice-and-snow destinations such as Harbin, Changbai Mountain, Urumqi, Altay, and Hulunbuir have risen significantly since early November.
The new snow season brings new highlights. Measures such as expanding ski run capacity, enhancing the quality of ski instruction, and introducing family-oriented vacation models are supporting the high-quality development of winter sports while further invigorating the ice-and-snow economy.
Recently, Arxan in north China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region kicked off its annual ice-and-snow tourism season. This year’s offerings feature a wide range of immersive experiences. Amid snow-covered forests and grasslands, visitors can enjoy melodious morin khuur performances, magnificent equestrian shows, and participate in interactive activities such as snowmobile rides and snow dragon boat competitions, enriching the region’s winter tourism appeal.
From the winter of 2025 through March 2026, Inner Mongolia autonomous region will host a winter-long ice-and-snow carnival, anchored by major ski resorts, winter tourism hubs, dedicated venues, and top-tier scenic attractions. The region plans to launch 159 cultural and tourism activities, 45 curated travel routes, and 48 sporting events, creating a rich and immersive seasonal experience.
Jilin province in northeast China is adopting measures to diversify product offerings, expand public access and benefits, streamline transportation, and leverage high-profile sporting events. These efforts aim to offer visitors the excitement of winter sports and the distinctive appreciation of the province’s unique integration of culture and tourism.
For instance, new landmarks in Jilin province are set to elevate the winter tourism experience. These include the indoor ski resort at Changchun Wanda Mall, home to Asia’s steepest indoor slope, and the Siji Nanhe Fairy Tale Snow World. Innovative offerings such as frost-and-snow rafting and snowfield trekking are further enriching the visitor experience. To stimulate participation, the province has introduced 100 million yuan ($14.07 million) in ice-and-snow consumption vouchers, combined with local incentives such as dining discounts, free public transportation, and waived admission fees at major tourist sites.
Meanwhile, in Qianhai, Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong province, where the sea breeze remains mild in November, a striking silver-blue structure shaped like a blue whale houses the Shenzhen Qianhai Ice and Snow World. Recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest indoor ski resort, it opened on Sept. 29 this year and welcomes an average of more than 5,000 skiers per day.
Across many parts of southern China, the development of dry-slope facilities and indoor ski resorts has transformed ice-and-snow sports from a seasonal pastime into a year-round activity. This shift is broadening participation and creating new opportunities for winter sport engagement beyond traditional geographic and climatic boundaries.
As the infrastructure for ice-and-snow sports continues to expand nationwide, participation rates have risen steadily, propelling the rapid growth of the country’s ice-and-snow industry. According to a 2025 industry development report, the sector is projected to surpass the one-trillion-yuan threshold this year, reaching 1.0053 trillion yuan.
In addition to this robust industrial expansion, ice-and-snow consumption is also accelerating. During the 2024-2025 winter season, resident participation in winter activities generated over 187.5 billion yuan in consumption, marking a year-on-year increase of over 25 percent. Of this, spending at ski resorts nationwide reached 78.613 billion yuan, while consumption within two kilometers of ski resorts grew by 27.97 percent, giving a significant boost to adjacent sectors such as retail, transportation, and hospitality.
New snow season gains momentum, fueling China’s ice-and-snow economy
