One of China’s top destinations for snow sports, Jilin is full of world-class ski resorts you shouldn’t miss
The Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games may have been held in and around Beijing in 2022, but it’s Jilin which plays host to some of the best ski resorts in the country. Jilin’s geographical position means it is ideally situated for the weather fronts that roll in from Siberia to deposit delightfully light and dry powder in the province’s alpine forests.
The ski industry has only recently taken off in China, and Jilin’s new state-of-the-art resorts continue to expand year on year. After Beijing won the right to hold the 2022 games in 2015, the government set about making China a nation of snow enthusiasts. In 2016, the National Development and Reform Commission announced plans to have 300 million people participating in winter sports by 2022—double the current total number of skiers worldwide. This would mean around a fifth of China’s population could be taking up winter sports. The plans include the construction of over 1,000 ski resorts to make China a renowned international ski destination.
Jilin has already ridden this wave to become one of China’s most popular ski destinations, with three of the nation’s four main ski areas occupying more than 400 hectares. The province welcomes over 2 million ski visitors per year. Three of Jilin’s resorts—the Changbaishan International Resort (长白山国际度假区), Lake Songhua Resort (万科松花湖度假区), and Beidahu Ski Resort (北大湖滑雪场度假区)—receive well over a million ski visitors annually, making them among the most popular skiing destinations in China. They feature six, five, and four detachable aerial ski lifts, respectively.
Sam Davies is the managing editor at The World of Chinese. He writes mainly about Chinese society, especially life outside the biggest cities. His pieces touching on diverse topics from the future of China’s ski industry to efforts to prevent juvenile crime.
