Tourists flock to Shanxi for winter thrills
Top athletes among those championing province's wealth of snow and ice assets
The fun of winter sports is not limited to skiing and skating. In Shanxi, there are a wide range of options for participants to choose from.
In the northern Shanxi county of Youyu, for example, winter sports have developed in multiple forms in recent years. The enthusiasm for sports is so strong that many of the frozen water bodies in the county become skiing venues in winter.
A lake in the county's Nanhewan Wetland Park is among favorites with ice and snow sports enthusiasts. In winter, the site gathers hundreds of people every day, who attend amateur competitions, learn to ski from professional trainers, or ride sleighs, ice slides and ice motorcycles for fun.
For many visitors, the most exciting sport is riding an ice slide. Built on a natural slope at the Nanshan Forest Park in the county, the ice slide is said to be among the longest in North China.
Wang Xuefei, a local and a frequent visitor to the site, said he was thrilled with the speed achieved when riding the slide.
"It takes only 28 seconds to finish the 360-meter trip," he said. "That's almost the speed of a car on the road."
He added that he also takes his child to the venue to learn skating and skiing from the trainers.
Meanwhile, more snow and ice-related activities were held in Datong. On Jan 22, an ice and snow carnival opened in the city's Wenying Lake Park. The event included a grassroots skating tournament and a fishing contest on the frozen lake. In addition, there were also concerts and camping activities.
In Shanxi as a whole, the province's ice and snow sports have developed into a larger-scale industry. It has a number of clubs and professional teams in such sports as skating, snowboarding, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and curling.
In addition to residents' enthusiasm, support from local enterprises is contributing to the development of winter sports. In Shanxi, there are hundreds of entities engaged in winter sports operations, with skiing and skating venues scattered throughout the province.
