China tops Switzerland in annual ski visits as winter tourism surges

China's ski market is accelerating rapidly, with 26.05 million ski visits recorded in the 2024-2025 season – exceeding Switzerland's 23.1 million last year, according to a white paper on China's ski industry. Xinjiang, in the northwest of the country, is one of the strongest drivers behind this boom.

Popular ski resorts like Jiangjunshan are drawing heavy crowds, while domestic flight bookings to Xinjiang from December to January have surpassed 390,000 – an 11 percent rise, according to data from travel platform Umetrip. The region's S-grade ski resorts received over 3.57 million visits in the 2024-2025 season, up 10.22 percent year-on-year, supported by a growing winter tourism infrastructure that blends skiing, ice, and snow sightseeing, and cultural experiences.