Winter tourism makes Altay come alive

Locals' ingenious traditional fur skis help navigate the deep snow

Winter tourism has injected vitality into Altay in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, which experiences temperatures of nearly minus 30 degrees Celsius in the coldest depths of the season. Ski resorts in Altay attract a large number of tourists.

Among the skiers sporting colorful goggles and ski suits, young men of Mongolian and Kazak ethnic groups catch the eye with their striking traditional clothes, wooden ski sticks and skis made of fur. This style of fur skis is believed to be among the oldest of their kind, according to rock paintings that show skiing scenes that were created about 12,000 years ago. Locals used to hunt with fur skis in winter hundreds of years ago, and now people still use fur skis to lead their herds to pasture in remote areas. In Hemu town of Altay, all the locals learn to travel across deep snow on skis.