I saw Lao Yan’s post about the Beidahu event two weeks ago, but since not many people had signed up on Lvye, I didn’t rush to register. By the time I decided to sign up a week in advance, all spots were already taken, so I had to book my tickets myself. I had also wanted to form a team to compete, but that wasn’t happening either.
I was taking the train on March 8th, and my friend was going to take me to the station, but Beijing’s evening rush hour traffic was terrible, so I ended up carrying my snowboard and taking the subway to Beijing Railway Station, then boarding the train to Jilin. On the train, more than half of our carriage were fellow skiers heading to Beidahu. Some had just returned from Chongli that morning and were catching the evening train to Beidahu, while others had been skiing there for forty or fifty days. Facing such passionate skiers, I truly felt inferior.
We arrived in Jilin early on Saturday morning. Compared to the smoggy air in Beijing, breathing the cool air here made me feel refreshed both physically and mentally. We took a bus to the Beidahu Ski Resort. We wanted to check in at the front desk first, but there were only two young resort staff members handling check-ins for everyone. Since there was a group from Lvye, the scene was very chaotic and disorganized. The inefficiency of the Beidahu Asian Games Village left a pretty bad impression on me as a first-time visitor. No wonder so many people choose to stay in local farmhouses or even in downtown Jilin. Because there were too many people and no order, when it was finally our turn, it was almost 10 a.m. But the staff couldn’t find my reservation information. After repeatedly checking my confirmation SMS and making several phone calls, they were finally ready to check me in, only to discover that the room wasn’t ready yet—they said it would take until 12 p.m. We were quite frustrated—neither my friend nor I had eaten anything since morning and were hungry. We discussed whether to have lunch first so we could hit the slopes right after checking in. So we went up to the second-floor restaurant to order, but were told they wouldn’t start serving food until 11 a.m. After some negotiation with the waitress, they agreed to cook us some dumplings. Thank goodness—we ordered two plates. The dumplings were probably made fresh, so we had to wait a bit. After eating, we checked the time—it was around 11 a.m. I went back to the front desk to see if we could check in, but they said it would still take another 20 minutes. We rested a bit longer and finally managed to get one room checked in, which allowed us to drop off our luggage, change, and head out skiing.
By the time we got on the slopes, it was already 12 p.m. The weather on Saturday was overcast, the light wasn’t great, but the slopes still looked exciting.
We took the gondola down Run 12 first. The slope was really long, but probably due to the recent warm weather, there was ice under the powder in some spots. My wife felt her legs getting sore after the first run.
On the second run, we took the chairlift down Run 2. The first section of the lift was fine, but the second section was painfully slow, and the seat and backrest were freezing cold. I really think the resort should upgrade its equipment. Run 2 also felt long and thrilling.
For the third run, we went back to the gondola. The weather started to get foggy, and even non-tinted ski goggles weren’t usable—you couldn’t see the slopes clearly. This time we went down Run 5, a freeride slope full of moguls that required tight turns. I really liked this run.
After these three runs, my wife and friend wanted to take a break, but I kept skiing. Still on the gondola, I ran into the guy who sat next to me on the train and we headed up to the summit together. By then, the snowfall had intensified, and visibility was only a few dozen meters. Together with a few other skiers, we went down Run 9, which I thought would be more suitable for my wife.
This photo was taken at the summit.
After the fourth run, my wife asked me to go drink some water. I went to the lobby to rest for a bit and planned to go up again. My friend wasn’t in great shape today, so I took my wife down Run 9. Visibility wasn’t good today, so we called it quits after the fifth run.
We arrived at the hotel’s second-floor Chinese restaurant at 5:30 p.m. to eat, but were told they wouldn’t start serving until 6 p.m. because of the Lvye group—they had a buffet on the first floor, and the kitchen was overwhelmed. Honestly, the reception capacity of the Beidahu Asian Games Village seemed quite poor. A group of just 200 people could throw them into such chaos. From check-in to meals, everything felt disorganized. But the restaurant’s sweet and sour pork was really delicious—I loved it.
After a night on the train and a day of skiing, my friend still wasn’t feeling well, so after dinner, we all went back to our rooms to rest. Watching the snow fall heavier outside the window, I hoped the next day would be better.
The next morning, I pulled back the curtains and wow—the weather was amazing, with thick snow everywhere. All the lingering sleepiness instantly vanished. I quickly washed up and went to breakfast. The hotel breakfast wasn’t great—nothing special, not even as good as steamed buns. But I didn’t care—I just wanted to eat quickly and get back on the slopes.
First, we went up Run 2. I felt great on the chairlift and snapped a few beautiful photos.
After snowfall and fog, rime forms—it was absolutely stunning.
On the way down the slope, I kept taking photos to capture the beautiful scenery.
Next, we were ready to explore Beidahu’s famous forest freeride area. Once inside the woods, we found the snow was incredibly deep—the ski poles would sink in easily.
We followed the tracks left by a snowboarder downhill, but freeriding is extremely tiring, and you have to keep your weight back. Leaning forward can cause your board to sink into the snow, and once it does, you can easily fall. My friend fell and lost his board in the woods. Luckily, he wasn’t buried, but when he tried to stand up, he let out a yell. I thought he’d twisted his ankle, but he explained that when he stepped, the snow came up to his thighs, though his foot hadn’t reached the bottom—he had just yelled instinctively. The forest was full of thorny bushes, and both my wife’s and my ski pants got scratched—such a shame. After skiing for a while, we finally emerged from the woods. Everyone was exhausted, but we couldn’t forget to take some photos.
We went down two more runs, but my wife was too tired and wanted to call it a day. We went to the lobby for lunch and ordered pork ribs with pickled cabbage—it was good and hearty. After lunch, my friend and I still wanted to ski the freeride area, so we took the gondola again, planning to go down Run 15. Run 15 is a connector between Run 12 and Qingyun Avenue. It’s not long, but it’s very deep. During the run, my friend fell and lost his board again. I waited for him by the edge of the slope. Another skier passed me, but the freeride snow was thick and soft. I saw him take a tumble within just twenty or thirty meters, so I shouted, “Are you okay?” He struggled a bit but couldn’t get up, so I quickly skied over to help him up. The snow was so deep that even with my skis on, my legs sank up to my knees while pulling him up.
After getting up, the guy realized one of his boards was missing. He quickly started digging through the snow to find it. My friend also came over and said the board must be somewhere behind where he fell. He dug about a meter further back and found it after a couple of tries. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief—it would’ve been a real hassle if it had been lost. So everyone, please be careful when freeriding.
The slopes at Beidahu are great—long and exciting—and the freeride areas are amazing. I absolutely love them. But the lifts could use some improvement, and other service aspects also need work. Overall, under the current conditions, I prefer Chongli. These are just my personal experiences and opinions—skiing is something everyone has to experience for themselves.
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