A Chinese Temple on the way to Yabuli

After three years of living in China and several decades of going back and forth on business, I was beginning to think I’d just about done it all in China. Drinks and Dinner at the Summer Palace, receptions in the Great Hall of the People and welcoming of President’s in Tiannmen Square, cruises down the river Li and viewing the Terra cotta Warriors in Xi’an are just a few of the many spectacular events China has to offer. However, when a Chinese friend called and asked me to consider a ski trip on my next visit, I must say I was intrigued. After all, Skiing and China aren’t something that immediately comes to mind. Also, although I’d skied since I was slightly more than two till the time I went off to the U.S. Army in Vietnam, I hadn’t skied again in nearly 30 years. Would the old skills come back, would I even want to strap on the ski’s once I saw China’s slopes? All these thoughts rolled through my mind as I packed my bags on an early Saturday morning in Beijing.

 
As I jumped in my friend’s car for a ride to the airport, my friend told me that we would be skiing Yabuli Ski Resort in China’s far Northeast(website: www.YabuliSkiResort.com). Yabuli is within a short trip of the Russian border in Heliongjang province in what used to be called Manchuria.

We flew from the new Beijing Capital Airport by modern Boeing 737 aircraft in a one-hour plus flight to Mudanjiang Airport. We could have also flown into Harbin, which has a brand-new airport but the drive time is longer than from Mudanjiang. This made Mudanjiang Airport a better choice. At the airport, snow was already falling and the temperature was several degrees below zero, which may seem cold but winter comes late in North China and snow on March 1 is not unusual. The driver meeting us had our ski suits waiting for us in the new van. Since most skiers visiting Yabuli come from relatively far away and are not as likely to have or to carry their ski equipment, the Yabuli Ski Resort has nearly 700 sets of ski outfits which are generally very high-class Swiss and other models that one wears over existing clothes.

Clearing the new fallen snow

The drive to Yabuli Ski resort took about an hour and a half because of the falling snow and also because we paused twice to take pictures in front of a rebuilt Chinese temple and in front of an old Russian church. Because of the proximity of Russia, this whole area used to have many, many Russian orthodox style churches. Most of these were demolished during the Cultural Revolution but still many remain and their presence adds an exotic note to travel in this area.

 
Yabuli Ski Resort is China’s largest ski area. The Chinese government has invested over 150 million U.S. dollars and local investors have invested an additional 60 million U.S. dollars in improvements. These have resulted in a first-class water, electrical and communication system including fixed line optical fiber communications between Yabuli and major interchange points and a state of the art mobile telephone network that allows you to make both local and international calls virtually anywhere in the region. Other services include a 20 TV channel earth-satellite receiving station, helicopter service available on demand from Harbin, internet access, several three star hotels plus many other services.

The rental equipment room

The internet room

In 1996, Yabuli Ski Resort was chosen as the site of the 3^rd Asian Winter Games. In the nearly six years since the opening, Yabuli Ski Resort has continued to improve its facilities and now offers winter downhill and cross country skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, tobogganing (Yabuli has the longest Toboggan Run in the World), plus a host of other winter activities. The Windmill Village and Tinyihu Hotels are three star hotels with a total of over 300 rooms. There are a total of just over 600 beds in the resort as a whole. The Windmill Hotel where we stayed has 89 rooms, an indoor swimming pool, a bowling alley, pool, billiards, fitness room, kids game room, large internet facility, business center, bar, gift shop plus multiple restaurants.

There is also a Youth Apartment block with over 300 beds where many younger visitors stay and where there is a much more lively atmosphere than the bigger hotels. Finally there are two large suites which go for nearly $2,000 on a weekend night in ski season which lasts nearly 170 days in Yabuli. The suites tend to be booked by Chinese companies or families and are often full during the busy ski season. Prices of rooms at the Windmill Village Hotel we stayed were about US$50 during the week and just below US$70 on weekend nights, which is a real bargain. The rooms mainly have two twin beds and modern equipped bathrooms and although not as deluxe as the major chain hotels in China’s main cities are clean, warm and comfortable. Because of demand in winter, rooms are booked early so make your plans well in advance.

Five inches of new powder

We skied on both Saturday and Sunday. We visited the ski rental facility for boots, poles and skis. Yabuli has over 700 sets of each which are all recent models from Switzerland or other Western countries and in very good condition. Ski equipment costs about US$30 to rent. Rental also includes a full day lift ticket. Prices are thirty percent less if you bring your own equipment. Yabuli has a beginner’s area, a main ski lift of 4,228 meters and several smaller lifts. The main lift is Japanese supplied and is less than six years old and in very good condition. There are 11 ski trails and the vertical drop is 600 meters from the current lift but could be raised to 900 meters if certain readily accomplishable additions are implemented.

According to Mr. Zhong, and as confirmed by Dr. Tian Yuan, the Resort Chairman and Patrick Cao, the Vice President and General Manager, at the height of the season over 600 people work at the resort. On weekends, currently they get about 400 skiers a day using the runs but many more are using the other facilities. During Spring Festival (what we in the west call Chinese New Year) the resort often has several thousand people at the resort. Skiing is a growing industry in China and now nearly a million people have tried skiing at least once. There are over 60 instructors at the Yabuli Resort although the number that speaks English is a fraction of this. Instructors charge nearly $40 for a day of one-on-one skiing and are much more attentive and focused than most of the western instructors I’ve seen who seem to want to spend 20-30 minutes teaching and the rest of the day enjoying their skiing.

The Evening feast - The snow frogs are served whole and are on the right!

OurAuthentic Chinese dinner started with raw vegetables .  Notice the tin cups for toasting!

On Saturday night, Dr. Tian Yuan, the Chairman of the Yabuli Resort invited me and my friends to a dinner at a Peasant’s house. The hotel now runs this house but the house is quite authentic. It is a two-room brick structure with a picture of Chairman Mao and very basic furnishings. For the dinner, everyone sits on the Kang, which is an elevated brick platform that is heated and normally serves as the communal bed for the entire family. One warning is that the guests sitting next to the chimney have the hottest seats so please sit elsewhere if you don’t want to be baked. The dinner was a sumptuous spread that started with raw vegetables and a garlicky dip and included – a very exotic dish of snow frogs, chicken and mushrooms, deer meat and vegetables, fried yellow flower, tofu and mushrooms, black fungus and a host of other dishes. According to the resort manager, most of the items are grown locally and are organic. This exotic but quite pleasing fare was washed down with numerous toast of a clear liquor that was smoother and had less of an aftertaste than the Mao-Tai often served in Beijing but was equally potent.

Modern lifts - many now with enclosed wind shields

Over dinner, I talked with Dr. Tien who heads the Yabuli Ski Resort and some of his management team. They said that although the area was little known is the West, Yabuli is known throughout China as an area of scenic beauty and as a location in which a number of films have been set. The resort area, which is just over 10 square kilometers, has the potential to expand to a much larger development of vacation houses and expanded ski runs. The area is well known as a site of scenic beauty with a large number of animals in the area including deer, bears, leopards, tigers, pheasants, hares, squirrels, badgers, wild boars plus many lesser species. In 1993, the Chinese government upgraded the protection of the area to National Park status. Sustainable Development is being built into all the resort plans to recognize and protect this status. Measures include no tree culling, no mining, and no building inside the National Forest and no industry in the area.

Second day - A quick and fun way to get to unskied areas.

Sunday morning was again snowy and after a filling Chinese breakfast at seven, we arranged with the Manager to take motorized Ski Do’s to the top of the lift. Temperatures at the top of the mountain were a chilling 20 degrees below zero Celsius. Although the air was chill, the chance to ski the virgin powder upper slopes for two hours prior to the area being open to the general public was irresistible. Skiing trails after a light snowfall that you are the first to ski is a tremendous experience. After nearly four hours of additional skiing, it was amazing to note that my old skiing skills, which had been unused for over 30 years, were still there and each run I felt more confident and less precarious. Although I had been the one to limit the trip to two days as I had other business to travel onto, I found myself wishing I’d agreed to a longer stay. I promised to return with my family for a week long vacation next year when my son and I can benefit from the friendly instructors – such as Mr. Zhong. Who knows, next year I might even try trail nine, which was about as challenging as any trail is Switzerland or North America. Although, on second thought, maybe not. 

Yabuli International Ski Resort - China:  http://www.YabuliSkiResort.com