YINCHUAN, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Mingcui Lake Wetland Park, a nationally designated 4A tourism scenic spot located in Yinchuan, the capital of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, turns into a busy ski resort each winter frequented by people from the region.
"The number of skiers from Yinchuan and the surrounding areas amounts to nearly 70,000 each winter from December to the following March, accounting for one third of the total tourist volume of the whole year," said Zhao Xueping, the deputy general manger of Mingcui Lake.
The skiing resort has changed the Mingcui Lake from a closed park to a popular sports destination in winter since its opening four yearS ago, which is also a reflection of the increasing popularity of skiing in northwest China.
The dry and cold weather of China's northwest in winter usually creates conditions for ice but allows for little snow, so the local people are not as familiar with skiing as they are with ice-skating. Although an artificial ski resort was built around 2005 in Yinchuan, most people were still not interested in skiing, both because the sport has not taken root among the general public, and because of the high cost often involved.
"When I began to ski in 2009, there were only a dozen or so fans who were really crazy about the game and who would buy fitted skiwear and professional equipment," said Ju Donghai, chief of the Ningxia Skiing Association, adding that the average cost of a single skiing ticket was as high as 200 yuan (about 31 USD) for an adult.
But in recent years, with the expanding of the ice and snow sports ahead of the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Northwest China has seen a rapid increase in the number of ski grounds. In Ningxia, for example, in addition to four large and medium-scale ski grounds around the capital city, two more have been constructed in a remote southern mountainous city.
"Skiing not only allows us to breathe fresh air but excise our bodies. I like the challenge double-board, while my son prefers the sliding loop," Wang Rulai, who is a businessman in Yinchuan, said.
The park's ski ground has different slope difficulty grades and entertainment areas, and has introduced a coach from Yabuli Ski Resort, located in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang province.
Zhao added that sports authorties are taking steps to make skiing more affordable, with costs down to as low as 100 yuan per daily ticket.
The increasing popularity of the sport has also created chances for people to get involved in skiing at the professional level.
"There are about 600 skiing lovers in the association's WeChat group, and we will organize skiing outings several times each year to areas including Xinjiang, Gansu and Hebei," said Ju.
As one of three main venues of 2017-2018 National Winter Sports Promotion activity hosted by All-China Sports Federation, Ningxia launched the "Ice and Snow Fitness Season" on Dec. 31st, 2017. During the 3-month winter season, many professional and entertainment-focused ice and snow activities will be held in all 22 counties and five cities of Ningxia.
