Skiing, snowboarding gaining in popularity

CHANGCHUN－For the third year in a row, Qu Nan, a 20-year-old skiing enthusiast from Shanghai, has rented a flat in Jilin, a city in northeastern China's Jilin province, during her winter vacation.

"Hotels near ski resorts are expensive, so my boyfriend and I chose to stay in the city proper, which costs us just 2,000 yuan ($314) a month," Qu said. "I've met a lot of like-minded friends－including my boyfriend－through house-sharing and car-sharing."

Despite her lifestyle of careful calculation and strict budgeting, skiing is by no means a cheap sport. Qu said a set of moderately priced ski gear costs over 10,000 yuan, a season card for a ski resort is around 5,000 yuan, and then you have to factor in the costs of transportation, accommodation and dining.

Jilin city's Lake Songhua Resort received 39,200 tourists during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday beginning Jan 31, up 72 percent year-on-year, general director Zhao Lanju said.

"The opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics during Spring Festival has undoubtedly encouraged more people to go skiing, especially young people," Zhao said. "Customers aged between 20 and 40 account for 60 percent of those at our resort."

By October last year, 346 million Chinese had participated in ice-and-snow sports, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The China Tourism Academy says it expects tourism revenue from the current ice-and-snow season to reach 323.3 billion yuan.

On Xiaohongshu, a lifestyle-focused social media platform popular among young Chinese people, posts with the keyword "skiing" increased by 232 percent year-on-year last month. The latest posts show enthusiasm spreading from northern China to the whole country.

Online travel agency Qunar.com said the number of ski resort tickets sold on its platform during the Spring Festival holiday was double that of last year. Mafengwo, a travel service and social networking platform, said articles about skiing and snowboarding guides were viewed three times more frequently during the holiday than at the beginning of winter.

People born since 1990 have become the main market for skiing tourism, with online travel agency Tongcheng-eLong saying they accounted for over half of users booking tickets related to ice-and-snow activities.

On Alibaba's Fliggy travel platform, bookings for Spring Festival ice-and-snow travel among those born since 2000 were up more than 80 percent year-on-year, far outpacing other age groups.

Among the increasing number of skiers and snowboarders in China, more people have developed serious interests in the sports.

The number of tourists spending two or more days at a ski resort was up 180 percent last year compared with 2019, and more than 70 percent of skiers and snowboarders have repurchased skiing products, according to Trip.com, another online travel agency.

More people have also resorted to "crowd-ordering" in pursuit of their common hobby.

Qu has become an influencer on Xiaohongshu, sharing her experiences and tips about skiing in Jilin, and gathering people with the same passion together.

"Skiing brings me not only the joy of sports but also the joy of sharing with friends," she said.

Xinhua