Direct flights fuel the booming family skiing holiday in Yabuli

By Li Xinyi, reporting

December is the month of Christmas and snowfall. One of the most popular festivals in China’s northernmost province of Heilongjiang—the Ski Festival—kicked off last week (on the 12th). Among them, Yabuli boasts some of the finest snow quality for skiing in China and serves as a training base for Asian Games and Olympic ski athletes. Recognizing these advantages, international resort brand Club Med set up shop here last year, right next to China’s three major ski resorts. This year, it has also partnered with France’s national ski school ESF to introduce age- and level-based ski lessons. According to Club Med, compared to the same period last year (November), the number of travelers from Taiwan to the resort has increased fourfold.

Harbin is the capital of Heilongjiang Province, and Yabuli is a small town within Harbin, located about 198 kilometers from downtown Harbin—a three-and-a-half-hour drive away. Harbin was once occupied by Russia, and the city is dotted with Russian-style architecture. The nearby town of Yabuli even takes its name from the Russian word meaning “beautiful apple orchard.” Every winter, the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival becomes the area’s hottest event; but for skiing enthusiasts, one of China’s top three premium ski resorts is located right here in Yabuli.

This year has been a relatively warm winter for Yabuli, yet temperatures still dropped to minus 20–30 degrees Celsius last week. From Harbin Airport to Yabuli, the journey takes you through a snowy silver world. Farmland, lakes, and farmhouse rooftops are all blanketed in thick, soft snow, while thin columns of smoke rise slowly from chimneys. Yabuli is situated on Daguo’guai Mountain, which enjoys a very high forest coverage rate. The further you drive into the suburbs, the denser the woods become—like trees wrapped in white winter coats dotting the mountains, farmland, and winding paths. The snow on the roads flies outward in all directions with passing vehicles, and uneven white “musical staves” stretch out endlessly, scattering as they go. The scenery along the way matches everyone’s imagination of the northeast—vast, majestic, and serene, like an untouched snow-covered paradise.