A ski carnival got off to a good start at Vanke Lake Songhua Resort in the city of Jilin, in Jilin province, on Nov 14. Organizers held an opening ceremony at a high-altitude restaurant, "Jilin ONE", with some board skiing by hundreds of sports lovers.

The organizers say they are ready to accommodate about 200,000 skiers from across the nation this year and that they are looking forward to more cooperation with the government to train more young people who are interested in the sport, in this big sporting province.

The resort has great natural conditions, a 605-meter mountain slope, more than 150 days of ice and snow, and a 1.5-million-square-meter ski area, which makes it a key provincial tourist project.

Group photo at the opening ceremony of this year's ski carnival at Vanke Lake Songhua Resort. [Photo/Xinhua]