[Photo from visitbeijing.com.cn]

[Photo from visitbeijing.com.cn]

The Nanshan Ski Resort is the largest of its kind in northern China, that is, it is the largest ski resort specializing in snowboarding. The ski resort also distinguishes itself in offering more of everything for the Alpine skier, meaning that here one will find more slopes in all skill categories than anywhere else in China. Nanshan Ski Resort is also probably the Chinese ski resort when it comes to the availability of skiing and other snow-activity facilities for beginners. If you are a young person who knows nothing whatsoever about skiing and are looking for a fun place to learn among like-minded young people, Nanshan Ski Resort is your ticket. Its snowboarding park, the Quiksilver Nanshan Mellow Park, is built in cooperation with the famous Austrian snowboard-park designer, the Mellow Company (the current sponsor of the park is the boardsports fashion apparel company, Quiksilver, which also makes the female fashion apparel line, Roxy).

Not surprisingly, given that the ski resort also has numerous beginner slopes, Nanshan Ski Resort's 70-member staff of ski and snowboard instructors, many of whom are trained by Austrian coaches (the Nanshan International Snowboarding School is in fact led by an international snowboarding instructor from Austria), boasting one of the largest, if not the largest, staff of ski instructors in all of China. Quiksilver Nanshan Mellow Park is the favorite practice grounds for China's top-competition snowboarders who are preparing themselves, pushing themselves to the limit, for the upcoming 2010 Asian Games. The ski resort has 12 snow-making and 2 snow-grooming machines, all Austrian made. China Highlights has helped many traveler customize their ski tours during the past year. Design your own ski tours with our help, or see our ski tours.

Accomadtion

Nanshan Ski Resort offers two sets of standard (as opposed to VIP) accomodations, each with its separate amenities/ price classes: the Shirton Inn (not to be confused with the Sheraton Inn, though one is also advised to keep one's shirt on here too:)), and the Norwegian Villas. The former consists of 2 two-storey structures, with in all 24 double rooms, each equipped with an electric fireplace. The Shirton Inn also has a restaurant and bar that serves Western style food and drinks. There are two Norwegian Villas, which, as the name suggests, is a self-contained single-level house. Each villa consists of 6 rooms, including a living room, a kitchen, and a dining room. They are ideal for families, or for smaller groups who wish to lodge together.

As something extra (one can expect more at Nanshan Ski Resort!), the ski resort's Nanshan VIP Skiing Club offers what are termed in/out lodgings, or lodgings where the skiing begins (and ends) at the lodging's doorstep. The VIP club has its own cafeteria of course, with huge French windows that offer fantastic views of the surroundings.

Facilities

At the base of the mountain, where the ski resort's main facilities are situated, the Terrace Restaurant & Pub serves Western food and drinks, and also Chinese beer. The Nanshan Restaurant specializes in Chinese cuisine, while the Hot Snack Bar serves Chinese snacks and other fast foods. At the top of the mountain, where the chair lift will deposit you, the Lavender Mini Tea Bar serves coffee, tea and light snacks. Also located at the main building complex at the base of the mountain is the Nanshan Ski Service Center, a two-storey structure whose upper storey caters to VIPs while the lower storey is for everyone else (for the modest sum of 50 Yuan you can be certified as a VIP customer!). The Nanshan Ski Service Center has more than 3000 sets of skis, snowboards, toboggans, and snowmobiles for rent.

 Lastly, Nanshan Ski Resort offers year-round activities; besides the winter sport activities, there is grass skiing, water skiing, swimming and hang-gliding during the summer, and in the autumn, the local fruit trees offer up their bounty, free for the picking, as they say.

How to Get There

There are a number of ways to get to the ski resort, including two different bus routes directly from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) and a bus route from downtown Beijing (ask your travel agent for the departure/ arrival details, as these change fom time to time). You can also take a taxi, though this is a bit pricey (about $50 each direction). A one-way trip by bus/ taxi takes about 1 hour.