Winter sports industry injects vitality into SW Chinese city

At the Yushe Snow Mountain Ski Resort in Liupanshui City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, visitors dressed in brightly colored ski attire meander through the snow-covered slopes surrounded by dense forests.

As the first high-altitude ski resort in Guizhou, the Yushe ski resort has attracted many skiing enthusiasts since it was put into operation in December 2013. The resort features ski trails for beginners, intermediates and advanced skiers, accommodating approximately 3,000 skiers at the same time.

In the ski resort's hall, local tourists and those from other provinces such as Hainan, Sichuan and Guangdong are renting ski clothing and boards.

"I rarely saw snow when I was a child, and I didn't expect to experience alpine skiing at a natural ski resort without going to northern part of our country," said Hu Xinyu, a 24-year-old tourist from Chongqing.

On the beginner's slope, 22-year-old ski instructor Li Zhengyang teaches a young student the basics and precautions of downhill skiing. In less than half an hour, under his guidance, the student has managed some fluid movement.

"An increasing number of southern tourists are coming in groups with family and friends, while skiing enthusiasts also arrive from afar to experience this sport's novelty and joy in Liupanshui," Li noted.

In recent years, Liupanshui has leveraged its unique mountainous natural conditions to transform its snow resources into a new driving force for cultural and tourism integration.

"Skiing is no longer just a sport. It has become a leisure activity. We are clearly witnessing an increase in skiing enthusiasts each year," said Zhang Kai, deputy general manager of Guizhou Yeyuhai Tourism Development.

Zhang added that during the 2024 ski season, the Yushe Snow Mountain Ski Resort has received over 7,000 visitors, with online pre-sales exceeding 6.5 million yuan (about 880,000 US dollars) and total revenue from related activities reaching 1.8 million yuan.

According to Chen Tao, director of Liupanshui's Cultural Tourism Development Center, the city has developed three high-altitude ski resorts, gradually forming a winter tourism and leisure product system centered on the integration of skiing and hot springs. The three ski resorts have received over 200,000 visitors in the 2024 ski season.

"Liupanshui will continue to leverage winter sports to promote the deep integration of cultural, sports, and tourism industries, providing tourists from home and abroad with higher-quality winter tourism experiences and services, and establishing the ice-and-snow tourism industry as a new economic growth point," said Chen.