The Beishan Four-Season Skiing Park is the first year-round athletic facility in Asia. Located in Jilin Province, the resort opened earlier this year and serves up to 500 skiers per day. 

The temperature inside remains at around minus six to seven degrees Celsius throughout the year. The resort looks much like a tunnel and is built on an air-raid shelter. 

Qian Fuquan has been coaching students for several months there. 

He's a cross-country skiing coach at Jilin Municipal Amateur School. He said, "This resort has a constant temperature and high-quality snow. It’s very suitable for practicing. Our practice time is four times more than those in other cities."

Qian also feels happy that more parents are encouraging their kids to learn winter sports. "Our country has been actively promoting winter sports. Now more parents recognize and like winter sports and send their kids to our school for training. Class size has greatly expanded, which is great," he said.

This ski resort is also aimed at training the athletes participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The city of Jilin is one of China’s coldest regions and a natural place for winter sports with many unique advantages.

Gai Dongping, Deputy Mayor of Jilin City, has been working on developing the local ice and snow industry for many years. She believes Jilin has its own advantages. 

"Jilin is located at a latitude giving it powdery snow in the winter. The snow season here is as long as five months. In winter, the temperature is not very cold, around minus ten degrees Celsius. The wind speed is also low. And the snowy mountains covered by thick forests also add to the skiing experience."

The local government has strengthened infrastructure with a focus on winter sports. Last year, more than a million tourists visited the city's ski resorts, up 40 percent over the previous year.

"We've already seen returns on the big investment that both companies and government have made. For example, businesses of hotels and restaurants around the ski resorts are booming in snow season. In the long term, the development of the ice and snow industry will benefit different levels of society," Gai added.