In wintry country, skiing is believing

This winter, China's tourism and recreation industry is seeing new activities: helicopters rides to go skiing and later eat hotpot food at custom resorts; shooting pictures with reindeer; visits to ice and snow museums.

Northeast China, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in Northwest China, Japan, Switzerland and North America, have emerged as the top skiing destinations for avid Chinese skiers, according to Qunar, an online travel firm that was acquired by Ctrip, China's largest online travel agency. More affluent millennials, including those born after 1995 and 2000, spend most of their leisure time skiing and snowboarding.

Ski lovers in China, whose numbers are rising, go skiing almost four times a year on average, and their per-capita spend exceeded 1,300 yuan ($191) each time. The volume of online searches on mobile phones for skiing products surged 79 percent over last winter, Qunar found.