Some Chinese skiers are travelling to an unexpected destination to take part in the winter sport: the hot and humid tech hub of Shenzhen in southern China’s Guangdong province, during next month’s eight-day National Day holiday, also known as the “golden week”.
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Qianhai Huafa Snow World, which is being touted as the world’s largest indoor ski resort, is set to open there on Monday as authorities look to tie the winter sports economy to efforts to boost consumption.
The 10-hectare (24.7 acre) indoor ski area at the resort will feature five ski slopes, including one with an 83 metre (272.3 feet) vertical drop.
“It’s great that they built this. Skiers won’t have to sit through boring summers any more,” said Xie Siya, a 30-year-old resident of Guangzhou, Guangdong’s provincial capital, who plans to visit the resort during the holiday. A maximum temperature of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) has been forecast for the break.
Like many other Chinese people, she started skiing three years ago following a surge in the popularity of winter sports fuelled by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
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She now hits the slopes at least once a month, spending around 1,000 yuan (US$140) at indoor ski resorts or upwards of 5,000 yuan a month on trips to open-air slopes during the winter.