Feature: Winter sports booming in NW China during winter vacation

LANZHOU, China, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Wearing ski goggles and stepping on her skis, 12-year-old Chinese girl Zhao Meiqi celebrated with high fives with her friends after sliding down from the ski track steadily.

"This is my first time to ski, and I've learned the skills under the instruction from the coach," said Zhao, adding that she came to the resort with her parents after the winter vacation started.

Zhao, who lives in Baiyin City of northwest China's Gansu Province, was skiing at Huada resort of the Gansu Baiyin national snow sports training base. After the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, more and more children in northwest China are attracted by colorful winter sports during their winter vacation.

The training base covers an area of over 110,000 square meters, including the playing area, dining hall, two 200-meter tracks for amateurs, two runs with a length of 170 meters for advanced skiers and an over-100m elite piste.

"More and more children are eager to ski during winter vacation. The average number of tourists received on weekends was over 1,000 per day," said He Xiaobing, general manager of Huada resort and Gansu Baiyin national snow sports training base.

It was common to see families playing together, and the staff have prepared snow motorcycles, snow football and other amusement facilities to meet the requirements of different groups at the resort, He added.

This national training base was built in late 2019, containing a skier service center with over 100 rooms, a 75,000-square meter ski resort, an indoor training hall and a biathlon field.

"The base has become one of China's important fulcrums on winter sports," He said.

Different places in Baiyin City have organized children and parents to participate in winter sports during the vacation. Nearly 130 local children and parents came to play snow organized by Jingtai County library and other departments at the national training base, located in Jingtai of Baiyin City several days ago.

Staff taught everyone about how to use snow equipment, basic skiing skills, and knowledge of winter sports. Children and their parents experienced activities such as skiing, snowman making, and snow football.

"My child gradually became confident while skiing," said Sun Lina, a mother of the vacation event, adding that snow sports experience was great for kids.

Lu Yujie, director of Jiangtai County Library, introduced that children aged from 7 to 14 have participated in the vacation event.

"We hope to promote the high-quality development of local winter tourism through winter sports activities," Lu said.

Gansu Province and Baiyin City are just icons of the rapid development of snow sports and tourism in northwest China. Various types of snow events activities are carried out in Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang and other regions throughout the country.

A recent statistics released by China Tourism Academy this month showed that the number of winter tourists in China is expected to exceed 400 million for the first time from 2023 to 2024, and the revenue of winter tourism is expected to reach 550 billion yuan (77 billion US dollars).

"More than two million people have participated in fitness activities in winter each year," said Zhou Fengxia, director of the Gansu Winter Sports Management Center, stating that people enjoy the snow sports while consumers expand their sports consumption.