Jilin aims to become major national ski hub

A year after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Jilin province, one of China's top ski destinations, is undergoing a boom in winter sports.

The province is known for its powdery snow, which lasts throughout the winter thanks to consistently low temperatures and attracts skiers from around the world.

Jilin city's Beidahu Ski Resort has had 30 foreign instructors teaching skiing and snowboarding.

"To become an international ski resort and attract more visitors from across the world, we began to introduce foreign instructors in 2016," said Li Ji, head of Club Med Beidahu. "Some are chosen from Club Med resorts elsewhere in the world, including France, Canada, Italy and the United Kingdom, and others are hired directly by the resort."

According to Li, the instructors usually spend the snow season from early November to late March in China.

"Most were professional instructors before they came to China, and they are able to earn relatively higher salaries here," Li said.

"They have also been able to see the rapid development of winter sports in China since the Olympics. We offer them good living conditions in the largest ski resort in Asia, which they appreciate."

During the 2022-23 season, the resort expanded from 27 to 64 slopes and now covers 239 hectares, making it the largest resort of its kind in Asia.

"I was a senior ski instructor in Canada and was employed to teach snowboarding at Beidahu in 2018," Max Blouin said. "I've seen the great changes in recent years. And I know in the next three to five years there will be more. That's the reason I'm here."

To be able to communicate better with students, Blouin spent several months learning Chinese at Zhejiang University after the 2019-20 snow season.

"Most of the students are from southern regions, such as Shanghai and the provinces of Guangdong and Zhejiang," he said.

"We communicate both in English and Chinese without too many barriers."

Beidahu created six new terrains for last year's season, including a primary-level terrain park, a block park, a chase track and a mushroom track.

"We invited a team from New Zealand to plan, build and operate the extension project," Li said.

"It's one of the top teams in the world, and came with a lot of experience and interesting ideas for giving skiers an unprecedented skiing experience. These changes have encouraged more people to get involved in the winter sports sector."

Beidahu received over 400,000 tourists and earned tourism revenues of 295 million yuan ($43 million) in the 2022-23 season.

In recent years, Jilin has been focused on creating a winter sports sector that includes tourism, sports, culture and manufacturing. The construction of medium- and large-sized ski resorts is also continuing, with the aim of enticing more tourists to the province to experience winter fun.

The Jilin provincial government said that it plans to create a world-class ski sector, as the development of winter sports has invigorated the province and is expected to become a new driving force in its economy.

At end of last year, Jilin had 75 ski resorts and 319 slopes capable of receiving up to 100,000 people a day, making it the country's ski hub.

According to a provincial development plan, Jilin's winter sports sector is expected to be worth 250 billion yuan by 2025, and the province aims to complete the construction of an additional 25 ski resorts and become one of the main drivers of the national goal to get 300 million people involved in winter sports.

Contact the writers at zhouhuiying@chinadaily.com.cn