China’s new ski bunnies: how the winter sport is snowballing among the young

Wu Bo can’t wait to hit the slopes in Davos in Switzerland in the next week.

The destination holds a special winter allure for the keen skier and manager of a property company in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province.

“The scenery is fantastic, the weather is not too cold for skiers, the ski facilities are well managed, it’s easy to get to the resorts, and more importantly, it has the best ski trails and you never have to worry about snow conditions.”

He will head to Davos with 13 other skiing enthusiasts from the Chinese city for a 10-day trip that will cost him about 15,000 yuan (US$2,350), including flights and accommodation.

Wu often travels to resorts within China and overseas to indulge his passion, whether it’s at Yabuli in Heilongjiang or on New Zealand’s South Island. Each overseas trip cost at least 10,000 yuan, he said, but the foreign resorts were more challenging and had deeper and softer snow compared to the crowded Chinese facilities, which rely on artificial coverage.

Skiing is still new to many in China but it is gaining momentum, especially with Beijing’s winning bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.