This article is transferred from: CBN.
With the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics just around the corner, skiing has also gone to the public and become a popular choice for many people to spend their holidays.
Wang Han, a Dalian guy who has been skiing in Songhua Lake in Jilin for a week, told CBN that there are many people in the ski resort recently and he had a good time. "I like more people and it is easy to make friends with fans. Everyone sees that you skate well, and you can whistle and applaud. The atmosphere is great! "
Xu Xunjun, an architect living in Shanghai, has just returned from Songhua Lake and Wanda Changbai Mountain Ski Resort. Obviously, he is still talking about it, and he can’t help but want to go skating again. "Especially addictive! Our friends in the ski group will leave when they say so. I will go to Wuxi Sliding Indoor Stadium this weekend and go back and forth on the same day. "
"Three hundred million people on the ice and snow", a promise made by China when bidding for the Winter Olympics, is accelerating to become a reality. The driving effect of the Winter Olympics, the trend of ice and snow consumption and the development of cultural tourism industry are converging at present, and more and more people are attracted to the ice and snow sports.
Getting started is addictive.
Sun Yinrui, a senior tourism developer, told reporters that skiing is a very common social sport in many countries, and it has also broken through the boundaries of minority hobbies in China. Young people, represented by the post-90s generation, have regarded diving and skiing as "standard". "In the past, mainly northerners skied, but now they ski in South Renye Fang. I used to go skiing in winter, but now I also start skiing out of season. Skiing has become popular and normalized, and it is not even necessary to skate on the snow. "
In Wanda Changbai Mountain International Resort, the highest reception volume in the single snow season reached 420,000. Last snow season, despite the epidemic, 260,000 people came and earned 170 million yuan. On New Year’s Day holiday this year, Beidahu Ski Resort received a total of 26,000 tourists, up 10% year-on-year, and realized tourism income of 11.3 million yuan, up 17% year-on-year. The average hotel occupancy rate reached 75%. Also on New Year’s Day holiday, Vanke Songhua Lake Resort received 20,000 tourists, up 33% year-on-year, and realized tourism income of 12.8 million yuan, up 50% year-on-year. The average occupancy rate of the hotel is also over 70%.
Corresponding to consumer demand, the number of ski resorts in China has increased rapidly. According to the White Paper on Ski Industry in China in 2020, the number of ski resorts in China was 348 in 2012, 568 in 2015 and 715 by the end of 2020. It is a problem for consumers to choose which ski resort to go to.
The salad dressing of Shanghai freelancer has been slippery for 8 years, and "into the pit" started from an accident. At the end of 2014, she traveled to Wanda Changbai Mountain International Resort. The sudden change of weather forced her to change her original plan. She failed to climb the mountain, but she completed her first skiing experience.
"Many people say that diving is blue opium and skiing is white opium. At that time, I felt a little enjoyable. As long as skiing can get started, it will quickly fall in love. " In the following years, she went to Wanda Changbai Mountain, Songhua Lake and Chongli Miyuan Genting Paradise for many times with the frequency of skating once a month in each snow season, and also learned about the ski resorts in Yabuli, Heilongjiang, Urumqi, Xinjiang and Altay.
1000 yuan can play well every day.
Beginners can really appreciate the fun of skiing in the middle and advanced courses after stumbling and sliding. On the one hand, this progress and upgrading depends on skiing teaching, on the other hand, it is determined by the construction standards and operation management level of ski resorts. There is an inseparable relationship between the two. The role of the coach is extremely critical, and the cost of hiring a coach is an important skiing expense.
Salad sauce believes that Wanda Changbai Mountain is a ski resort that is very suitable for zero-based entry. One of the reasons is that a complete coaching system was established as soon as the ski resort opened. "The idea is very good, and the coach is called a holiday assistant. Solid technology and high cultural quality. In addition to teaching you to skate, the coach also plays a role in safety protection and snow track supervision. " She also established a friendship with her familiar coach.
According to salad dressing, at that time, these coaches were college students who graduated from sports professional colleges. After being trained by retired professional athletes, they took up their posts and taught their skills very attentively. "Their monthly income is 20,000 to 30,000, which is a very high level in the local area. A well-done coach can buy a suite a year." Of course, the tuition fee is not low, and it exceeded the daily 1000 yuan in the snow season of 2015-16. After laying a good foundation, salad dressing goes to Songhua Lake to skate on the intermediate road, so I like to skate without a coach and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Songhua Lake at the top of the snowy road.
Xu Xunjun went to Songhua Lake this time and hired an intermediate coach, which cost 1,800 yuan a day, "the advanced one is more than 3,000 yuan". According to her on-site consultation at the ski resort, the net income of regular professional coaches in a snow season is between 50,000 and 150,000, depending on the level, and senior coaches can earn more than 200,000. Wang Han’s knowledge confirms this price. He is quite talented in skiing. He has won many local competitions for more than a year and obtained a coaching certificate.
Wang Han usually lives and works in Shanghai. When he has time to go skiing in the north, he calls friends and groups to go there and coach himself for everyone. He hopes that the public will not mistakenly think that skiing is an expensive and difficult sport to learn. "The usual price of a senior coach is 3,500 yuan a day, and I charge 1,500 yuan. I also pay for my snow ticket and accommodation." Wang Han is exploring and popularizing a new concept of skiing teaching. He believes that more people experience skiing out of interest and teaching should not be too rigid. From the physical knowledge in technical movements to the understanding of sports culture, he thinks it is also great fun to share these with snow friends.
There are three main expenses for traveling to ski resorts: transportation, accommodation and skiing experience. Among them, air tickets and fares are relatively fixed, the level of hotels and meals depends on personal preferences, and the snow tickets, equipment rental fees and coaching fees required for skiing depend on the technical level of tourists. Wang Han said frankly, "Skiing is indeed a sport that burns money, but it can also be cheap." According to the standard of 100 yuan, the daily meal fee is 400-500 yuan, which is almost the same as that of 1000 yuan.
Both salad dressing and Xu Xunjun have purchased packages sold by tourist areas or distributors, and they can get preferential package prices for air tickets, hotels and skiing. Both of them will choose higher-grade hotels and restaurants. "Otherwise, it’s really tiring to skate for a few days, so eat well and have a good rest," said the salad dressing. In the 2017-18 snow season, the price of Wanda Changbai Mountain four-day and three-night all-inclusive package purchased with salad dressing was nearly 10,000 yuan. Xu Xunjun went to Changbai Mountain and Songhua Lake for three days and two nights around New Year’s Day this year, and the expenses were also around 9,000 yuan. "It’s very cost-effective to join a package tour". Shanghai chartered flights to and from Changbai Mountain, including hotels, helped her save the tuition fee for a three-day coach.
Ski resort upgrade
On January 19th, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released ten excellent national ice and snow tourism routes, covering "Ice and Snow Beijing Zhang Winter Olympics City", "Changbai Youyue Ski Resort" and "China Xuedu Pure Northern Xinjiang", among which ski resorts located in Jingbei-Chongli area, Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province and northern Xinjiang are the main ones. Sun Yinrui believes that there are three key factors to build a good ski destination. First, the ski resort is good, second, the supporting facilities should keep up, and third, the transportation should be convenient.
Snow is of course the first. 41 degrees north latitude is called "golden powder snow belt", and the world-famous ski resorts Alps, Rocky Mountain, Hokkaido, Changbai Mountain and Altay in China are all at this latitude. According to research, Altay is also the origin of human skiing activities.
But snow is not enough. There are many details about the design, planning, construction and management of snow trails, the selection, installation and maintenance of equipment, and there is a booming industrial chain behind it. Ski resorts are not only places to provide experiences, but also sources of gravity to describe dreams. Sun Yinrui said, "It is best to have a high-level road in the ski resort, which is an attraction for senior enthusiasts and a symbol of the professional level of the ski resort."
According to the book "Skiing in China" written by Zheng Junfeng, a disseminator of skiing culture, and the official information of ski resorts, Songhua Lake has an annual snow and ice period of more than 150 days, with an average snow thickness of 1 meter. The ski resort has 37 snow trails, a skiing area of 175 hectares, the largest mountain drop of 605 meters, the longest alpine primary snow trail with a total length of 5.21 kilometers in China, and a super giant slalom snow trail with a total length of 1,883 meters and a drop of 500 meters. There are 6 ropeways, using well-known Austrian brand equipment. Songhua Lake is the first ski resort in China to carry out thematic transformation from the perspective of different skiers’ experiences, which meets the needs of three categories of enthusiasts: primary skiing, competitive skiing and park snow.
The hard power of Wanda Changbai Mountain Ski Resort is equal. The snow period lasts for 6 months, and the snow depth exceeds 1 meter. The ski resort covers an area of 7 square kilometers and has 43 snow trails, including 9 advanced trails, 14 intermediate trails and 20 primary trails that meet the standards of the Winter Olympics. The total length of the snow trail is 33 kilometers and the total area is 935,000 square meters. There are 7 ropeways, using Austrian, French and domestic equipment.
Represented by these two snow resorts, the top snow resorts in China, which have been launched one after another in the past decade, are regularly adjusting their strategies, updating their equipment, strengthening their commercial facilities and improving their service level. The number of ski resort hardware is updated dynamically every year.
Broad industrial space
Songhua Lake is Wang Han’s favorite ski resort. "As soon as I came out of Changchun Airport, there was a shuttle bus to Songhua Lake at Gate 9. The name of the resort and the bus schedule were written on a huge sign, and the service staff were very enthusiastic, which made me feel very holiday. Some snow resorts are completely blind when they get off the plane, and they can’t find signs, so they have to take a taxi. It is also good to go to Changbai Mountain and have a hotel bus to pick you up after getting off the plane. It is the second best choice in my mind. " He believes that supporting facilities such as food and accommodation and transportation, especially transportation connection, all greatly affect the skiing experience.
Salad sauce has a very real experience in improving the level of tourism reception in Changbai Mountain. At the beginning of the construction of Wanda Changbai Mountain International Tourism Zone, the local scenic spots had poor food and accommodation conditions. Later, a number of high-end hotels were built in the tourist area, and commercial streets were also opened, which also led local farmers to open catering shops. The salad dressing said, "I’m afraid I can’t eat well, and I brought half a box of instant noodles. As a result, I don’t need it at all, and the matching has changed dramatically." This is not much different from that in the city, and it also makes the standardized and service-oriented business culture firmly take root in the local area.
As a comprehensive tourist destination, Changbai Mountain is not only a skiing event in snow season, but also has mountain scenery to see in non-snow season. Sun Yinrui mentioned that in the snow field, various brands have begun to integrate across borders. Ski resorts are getting more and more involved in creating punch points in online celebrity and social atmosphere. Recently, KAWS, a trendy brand, has built a super-large snow sculpture in Luneng Resort of Changbai Mountain, and Wanda Changbai Mountain Tourist Resort has introduced Fendi Coffee pop-up shop. The two companies have both competition and cooperation, aiming to jointly make the Changbai Mountain Hotel Group bigger and hotter. During the period from the end of the snow season to the summer vacation, Changbai Mountain also has natural landscapes that can be used for summer vacation. Salad sauce is very interested in the mountain vegetation of Changbai Mountain. She thinks that the traditional mountain tourism in Northeast China is underestimated.
After visiting Jilin many times, Xu Xunjun also felt that he had become a "spiritual Northeastern". He liked reading books written by writers on behalf of the "Northeast Renaissance" and eating Northeast dishes. "In Changbai Mountain, the taste buds are different, and everything he eats feels delicious." Her description is full of nostalgia. "Northeasters speak directly, don’t beat around the bush to test you, and the dialogue is very vivid."
Speaking of her preference for ski resorts, she said that she likes the convenience and comfort of skiing in Wanda Changbai Mountain, and she is also impressed by the atmosphere and design of Songhua Lake. The viewing platform designed by her friend and architect Shark Wang in Songhua Lake Scenic Area-Mori Stage is also a landmark for skiers to punch in.
On this recent trip to ski, she and her friends also caught up with the Ice and Snow Festival and electronic syllables, drank hot chocolate made by pop-up shop, ate delicious food and pasta from all over the world in the restaurant on the top of Vanke Songhua Lake, met the artist Crystal, and were shocked by the spirit that "Xueyuan" took photos in the snow.
Compared with the past, the most important thing for ski resorts now is to attract repeat customers. Everyone’s skiing experience is different, and their preference for each tourist destination also has their own reasons. After the success of the Beijing Winter Olympics, more people will set foot on the ice and snow as promised and have fun. The Olympic ski resorts in Beijing and Chongli will also be open to welcome the influx of enthusiasts, and together with many popular ski resorts, meet people’s growing ski demand.
Reporting/feedback