Are China’s Olympic skiing venues any good for a holiday?

We’ve all watched skiers speed through the Beijing 2022 downhill course, fly and spin through the slopestyle, and pinball their way through the moguls. By and large, these events have been a success, and the conditions have been better than expected for a country that relies heavily on man-made snow.

With the Games now drawing to a close, many will be wondering about the possibility of skiing at these places themselves. After all, some of the best skiing in Japan and South Korea can be found at former Winter Olympic venues, including Hakuba’s Happo One resort (Nagano 1998) and Yongpyong Resort (Pyeongchang 2018).

Moreover, winter sports in China are now booming, and with more than 500 ski resorts in the country and 300 million winter sports participants, domestic tourism is already thriving.

Those of you who, like us, have been glued to the alpine and freestyle events at Beijing 2022 will have seen two venues in use: Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre (alpine) and Genting Resort Secret Garden.

Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre

The Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre is a purpose-built Olympic venue that has hosted all alpine events at Beijing 2022. There was a lot of mystery surrounding the facility in the lead-up to the Olympics, given that Beijing has never been a stop on the World Cup circuit, and the usual Olympic test events were cancelled due to the pandemic.

Government official Zhao Beiting confirmed in an interview that the facility will be open for public use after the conclusion Olympics, although there’s still very little information about how it will work as a public resort.

Terrain and lift infrastructure

Any resort that hosts an Olympic downhill event requires some pretty serious terrain, and the National Alpine Centre is no exception. The course, referred to as “The Rock”, reportedly has sections up to a steepness of 68 degrees, which in layman’s terms is mind-blowingly steep (a typical black run might be ∼30 degrees).

The mountain is served by five gondolas and four chairlifts, with roughly 25 km of ski runs and 1,000 metres of elevation. Unsurprisingly, it does not appear to be a ski facility well suited to beginners, with a 25/40/40 split of blue, red and black terrain.

Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre

How much of this terrain will remain accessible to the public once the resort opens is anyone’s guess, but we’ll be watching with interest. Stay tuned.

Access

The fastest access to the Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre, which sits 90km to the north west of Beijing on Xiaohaituo Mountain, is via the recently rebuilt Beijing–Zhangjiakou high speed railway. The line is serviced by a state-of-the-art Fuxing bullet train, which can reach 350 km/h.

The trip from Beijing’s Qinghe railway station to Yanqing station takes roughly 25 minutes, however you’ll need a bus or taxi to take you up the mountain roads and into the venue itself.

Accommodation

At this point in time, there’s no accommodation at the base of the ski centre, though the Athlete’s Village is just a short drive away (what will become of it, we’re not sure).

However, the Yanqing District is not short on hotels, from Holiday Inns to a Hyatt Recency for those looking for something a little bit fancy. These would potentially serve as a good base for a holiday, though days trips from Beijing are also feasible.

Genting Resort Secret Garden

The Malaysian-owned Genting Resort Secret Garden has hosted the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events (excluding Big Air), and has the highest visitation of any resort in China according to Australian ski and tourism management consultant Gary Grant, who assisted in its development.

Terrain and lift infrastructure

Genting’s quad chair/gondola combination lift connects the Genting Grand hotel complex with the top of the mountain – a modest 398 m climb from base to summit. The resort has 35 marked trails spread over 80 hectares, but its owners have made known their ambitious plans for expansion that would see an additional 30 km of terrain developed, totalling an investment of RMB 18 billion.

Genting resort Secret Garden

Access

Genting Resort Secret Garden is located in Chongli District, 50km east of Zhangjiakou. Travellers can take the high-speed Beijing–Zhangjiakou railway from Beijing North to Taizhicheng railway station (part of the Chongli branch). From there, they can take a shuttle bus or taxi to cover the remaining 5.1km to the resort.