With the first major snowfall of this winter in Hebei Province, many tourists are already wondering when they can hit the slopes. According to the Chongli County Tourism Bureau in Zhangjiakou, ski resorts such as Wanlong and Great Wall Ridge are actively preparing, and visitors could be skiing there within ten days at most.
It is understood that due to climatic conditions and terrain advantages, Chongli County is usually the earliest area in the province to open for skiing each year and also the latest to close. Local tourism officials said that by mid-October, personnel and equipment at major ski resorts in Chongli had all arrived, making preparations to open the slopes. “Skiing will start in at most ten days,” said an official from the Chongli County Tourism Bureau. “The snowfall over the past couple of days was about one and a half feet deep. Under those conditions, skiing could have started in three to five days, but now the weather has warmed up a bit, so the resorts are making artificial snow to prevent melting.”
It is understood that currently, temperatures in Chongli County’s ski areas are rising slowly and remain quite cold, so the quality of the snow needs to be maintained. In mid-December, when the snow quality is better, Chongli will hold its annual Ski Festival, which will continue until April of next year.
Meanwhile, reporters learned from local ski resorts in Shijiazhuang such as Qingliangshan Ski Resort and Qinhuang Ancient Road Ski Resort that although the area experienced the first snowfall of the winter, being located in the southern part of Hebei Province, temperatures have risen quickly and not much natural snow has been preserved. Residents nearby who want to ski locally will have to wait a little longer—over a month, in fact. Skiing activities at local resorts in Shijiazhuang are expected to begin around mid-December.