The 9th Shennongjia Skiing Festival and Passion Tianyan Skiing Invitational Tournament opened at Tianyan ski resort in the Shennongjia Forest Region, Hubei province, on Dec 7.

Representatives of domestic travel agencies, media organizations, and counties and cities around Shennongjia participated in the opening ceremony, and Wang Daxing, secretary of the Party committee of the Shengnongjia Nature Reserve Administration Bureau and vice-president of Shenlv Tourism Group, and Zhou Lichun, the vice-director of the forest region, addressed the guests at the ceremony. Guo Wen, member of Party Standing Committee of the forest region, formerly launched the festival and tournament.

Shennongjia Passion Tianyan Skiing Invitational Tournament, with the theme “Icy World, Warm Sports,” is an amateur competition for members of the public which aims to promote winter tourism in Shennongjia, with a focus on increasing awareness of the area as an ecotourism destination.

Tianyan ski resort is located in Tianyan scenic region in the north of Shennongjia. It is a new low-altitude resort, with one practice area, one primary level trail, and two intermediate trails. The total length of ski trails exceeds 800 meters, and a total of 1,500 people can use the venue at any given time.

In addition, the resort boasts a cross-country ski trail of about 6,000 meters, linking Yanziya and Shuigou, and it has implemented the international standard color-graded codes and signs. The resort also offers training and adheres to high safety standards.

Shennongjia also organized visits for tourism agencies and media after the tournament to the research base of golden monkeys in Dalongtan, the first Shennong Tourism Investment Group annual meeting and winter tourism products promotion and the scenic spots of Shennongjia.

Edited by Niva Whyman and Le Qin