Yabuli Ski Resort

Located about 200 km from Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, it's considered one of China's top ski offerings and serves as a main training venue for Chinese national teams. Temperatures that can go below -20 C help supply this northeastern ski mecca with valuable snowfall. The skiing season at Yabuli begins in mid-November and ends in March.

Beidahu Ski Resort

This resort in Jilin province hosted the 2007 Winter Asian Games and is also the main venue for this year's national winter games. The resort has more than 10 major trails totaling nearly 20 km, with a six-seater gondola lift that goes to one of two major peaks at 1,216 meters high, promising pristine views of snow-covered mountain ranges before skiers descend on slopes more than 50 meters wide.

Changbai Mountain Ski Park

This area in Jilin province offers vast slopes of natural snow that will be irresistible to skiers and snowboarders looking for wild runs and off-piste fun. The resort is located in the heart of the Changbai Mountain nature reserve and the ski runs are designed to flow along the mountain's volcanic cone. The ski run has an 800-meter vertical drop and the slope is 8 km long.

Nanshan ski village

Nanshan in Miyun county is one of Beijing's most popular ski resorts. Less than an hour's drive from the capital, the resort has wide beginner slopes serviced by a sizeable team of instructors and magic carpet surface lifts - making it the place to go for many who want to pick up skiing or snowboarding before tackling more challenging slopes elsewhere. A shuttle bus from downtown Beijing means day trips are hassle free.

Beijing Huaibei ski resort

Located less than 100 km from downtown Beijing, this resort boasts views of the Great Wall, which skiers can take in on a 1.2-km-long cableway. There are about 4 km of trails, including two intermediate slopes and an advanced one, during the four-month season that starts in December.

IF YOU GO

By car: About three hours from Beijing via the Badaling and Jingzhang expressways.

Weekend shuttle bus service from Beijing's Huixinxijienankou subway station on line 5 to Duolemeidi resort.