Skiing the sights

As China's largest ski resort, the training center for the country's Olympic team and host of the Third Asian Games in 1996, Yabuli Ski Resort ups the ante on downhill winter sports.

Nestled in a mountain valley about 200 km east of Harbin, in Heilongjiang province, the 300-hectare resort features 11 downhill trails spanning a total of 20 km. No 10 Trail is the most declivitous, with a 32-degree incline at its steepest point, and the 5-km-long No 5 Skiing Course is the longest beginner- and intermediate-level slope on the continent.

Three bunny hills help beginners find their snow legs, while certain areas are lit up after sundown for nighttime skiing.

Cross-country enthusiasts can take a 5,000-m-long trail that winds through wintry forests. Also, there is a 5,000-m-long cross country trail, and trails for snowmobiles, horse-drawn carriages and dogsleds.

Visitors to Yabuli can also rocket down the mountainside on the world's longest toboggan run (180 yuan, $24.9). Upon boarding the one- or two- person sleds, riders whoosh down 2,680 m while negotiating 48 often-violent turns.

Australian Liam Sweeney, who took the ride with his girlfriend Annie Sillitoe, says it was "good fun", even though they "got stuck behind perhaps the slowest old lady in China".

The couple came to Yabuli after visiting the Harbin Ice Festival. According to management, while the biggest rush of domestic tourists comes during Spring Festival, the Ice Festival is the time when the greatest number of foreign tourists hit the slopes.

For the Aussies, the -20 C degree temperatures were shocking compared to the 44 C temperatures they enjoyed on the day they left their home country.

"We haven't been this cold before," Sillitoe says. "We don't have so much experience with snow."

The mountains of Yabuli are blanketed in the white stuff for 170 days a year, and management claims the area's snow is known for being neither too powdery nor too moist.

For Wang Jin, an orthopedic doctor from Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, "snow holidays" are particularly appealing.

"It's very subtropical (in Guangzhou). We never wear these," Wang says, tugging his sweater. "Because I live in Guangzhou, the beach-type of holiday is very close. Sanya (Hainan province), the Philippines - these places are just a few hours away, but skiing is very different."

Beijinger Wang Xuebing, who has tackled several slopes in Northeast China, says he was impressed by the snow quality and his instructors.

"The snow slopes are the easiest I've done yet. I really feel like I improved my skiing skills," he says.

Windmill Village, the largest resort on the Yabuli compound, offers lessons for all skill levels, starting at 180 yuan per person for two hours. Yabuli International Ski School was co-founded by Chinese and Swiss professionals, many of whom were champions in international competitions.

Graduates from the school receive a China Ski Coaching Qualification Certificate from the China National Ski Association and the International Ski Coaching Association.

Liu Xinling, who has coached intermediate and professional skiers at the resort for three years, says he loves his job, because "skiing is a noble sport".

According to him, it takes about two hours for beginners to nail down the basics.

"Those who are braver learn faster. They quickly find it's very exciting, and it's easy to get addicted," Liu says.

Sillitoe says she and Sweeney were impressed their coach was able to instruct across languages.

"He knew 'very good' and would keep saying 'very good', 'very good'," while giving them a thumbs up when they were doing it right, Sillitoe explains. "We were complete beginners, so it worked out."

Sweeney says interacting with the people of Yabuli Village helped him learn more about China.

"The whole thing's a cultural experience. It's good knowing you're having fun on someone else's slopes," Sweeney says.

For more seasoned skiers, the appeal is less about education than experiencing new terrain.

"I'm glad we came, because it's the biggest ski resort in China," says Vinciane Dumser, from France.

She and her travelmates - Australian Matthew Berzins and American Robert Ferguson, of Colorado - spent 11 hours on a train from Beijing to get here.

"We were the only people (on the slope)," Berzins says. "It was just the three of us, which was a lot of fun."

Ferguson, whose home state is globally renowned for its superb skiing, says he appreciated the affordability of Yabuli.

"In Colorado, you pay almost 70 or 80 US dollars for a day."

(China Daily 01/17/2008 page19)