Travel

Where the rich go on winter vacation

By Wang Ru (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-09 14:09

To most Chinese, Switzerland probably represents luxury watches, banks and fine chocolate. For a small but growing number of mainland skiers, it is heaven.

Every December, Zhang Le, a 45-year-old businessman in Beijing, handles his business correspondence at great speed as he eagerly prepares to ski in the Alps.

"The Alps are a gift from the gods for ski enthusiasts," said Zhang, who booked hotel rooms one month ago and invited some of his business partners to Switzerland for the ski trip in January.

While Zhang was working in a State-owned company in 1995, he went to Switzerland where he tried skiing for the first time. The young sportster immediately fell in love with the exciting winter recreation.

"I watched some ski competitions on TV in China before, but never thought it could be so popular as it is in Switzerland, where I was so surprised to see many kids and elderly people ski like professionals," said Zhang.

In the years that followed, Zhang was not only successful in business, he became a skillful skier.

He went to Switzerland almost every winter and skied as many of the 200 resorts scattered across the country as he could.

In the winter of 2007, he rented a helicopter with his friends and landed on the top of a mountain in the Alps and experienced the ultimate adventure of steep, untracked snow.

As winter sports like skiing and snowboarding attract more Chinese, Zhang is not alone in going abroad to experience the best natural resorts in Switzerland, Japan, France and the North America.

Xu Xinwen, the marketing director of Nanshan ski village, who has been skiing for nine years, goes abroad every winter. "Skiing is a traditional outdoor sport with over 100 years of history in countries like Switzerland, France and Austria," said Xu.

"The countries with large ski population have well-managed resorts with advanced facilities and best quality of snow and slopes."

With the overseas tourism market booming, skiing abroad is no longer a luxury for only the rich.

It is estimated that there are 20,000 to 30,000 Beijingers going abroad to ski every winter.

Most travel agencies in Beijing have skiing packages. A six-day winter holiday in Hokkaido, Japan only costs about 11,000 yuan a person.