Ski resorts see more sports lovers during the holiday

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The Spring Festival is associated with many customs and traditional activities. Now some people are adding outdoor activities to the list.

Ski resorts are seeing their numbers sliding higher, as visitors come to enjoy the slopes with their family and friends.

A new ski resort in the city of Datong in north China’s Shanxi Province just opened last December. The place has received around 4,000 visitors a day since the Spring Festival started, five times more than usual.

Many like to take selfies of themselves in a ski outfit. /CGTN Photo

The ski resort officials say their resort is among many others across the country, which have all seen a surge in visiting skiers in recent years.

Duan Jianjun, deputy manager of the Datong Wanlong Baidengshan Ski Resort, said, “After China won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in 2015, the number of visitors in many ski resorts has seen an increase of around 30 percent a year.

The ski resort in Datong covers 330,000 square meters, the largest in Shanxi. /CGTN Photo

This is unusual as ice and snow sports in Shanxi are not as popular as in the rest of northeast China. One reason is that winter in Shanxi is not as cold and long as in northeast China.

And Shanxi also doesn’t have as much ice and snow in winter as in the northeast.

But during this Spring Festival holiday, this new ski resort in Datong, which uses artificial snow, has seen a record high number of people coming to have fun with their family and friends.

Many visitors say bringing their family for outdoor activities is more interesting than just staying at home.

A daughter was giving a high-five to her father. /CGTN Photo

A visitor said, “I came here with my family, and I didn’t expect the place would have so many visitors. It’s great to see that more people are choosing to do outdoor activities during the holiday.”

Another visitor has also seen the change. “In the past, we often spent the holiday eating and drinking either at home or in a restaurant. Now we prefer to go out to places like this,” she said.

Many also believe doing the sport together improves communication between family members. A father was taking care of his seven-year-old daughter who’s learning to ski on a single snowboard in the resort.

He said, “although my daughter falls sometimes when she’s skiing, we still feel so happy doing this sport together.”