China builds more indoor ski resorts as 'ice and snow economy' heats up

Every winter, tech entrepreneur Sean Wang takes a month-long snowboarding vacation in northern China.

- Joyce ZK Lim China Correspondent

Last week, his snow season started early - at the world’s largest indoor ski resort, which had just opened near his home in Shenzhen.

The 37-year-old was one of hundreds of skiers and snowboarders who flocked to Huafa Ice and Snow World on Oct 1, the first day of China’s Golden Week holidays, amid the sweltering 33 deg C heat outside.

There, wobbly first-timers donning turtle-shaped butt pads stood in line for beginner slopes. Ski enthusiasts, action cameras at the ready, sped down the advanced runs.

“I have always thought that a city like Shenzhen needed an indoor ski complex,” said Mr Wang, while waiting for a friend to join him on the slopes.

The city’s residents have the spending power, and more people are dabbling in winter sports, added the avid snowboarder, who spends tens of thousands of yuan on the sport each year.

It is not just Shenzhen. In China, indoor ski resorts are growing in number and in size, as the country mounts a drive to boost spending in the burgeoning winter sports sector. These are climate-controlled complexes that maintain thick layers of artificial snow all year round, unlike outdoor slopes set in naturally snowy locales such as Yabuli Ski Resort in northeastern Heilongjiang.

China currently has some 70 indoor ski resorts in operation — more than half the world’s total — and “at least about 20 more” under construction, said Mr Wu Bin, a Chinese ski industry expert who authors an annual White Paper on the topic.