Winter Tour in Shennongjia Forestry District

By Zhai Xingbo, Xu Kuang & Yu Ling

The snow-covered mountains and green forests in Shennongjia have always been a dreamland for tourists across the country.

When winter is coming, more and more tourists are attracted by a variety of winter sports held in Shennongjia and other regions in Hubei Province.People enjoy the idyllic snowy landscape and entertain themselves by playing the many snowrelated activities which highlight the economic development of the area.

On December 28, 2017, the Second Hubei Ski Race was launched at the Shennongjia International Ski Resort, which lasted for three days. More than 2000 people from different cities and provinces participated in the fierce race.

This race was jointly organized by the Hubei Administration of Sports and Shennongjia People’s Government. It was a province-level ski race involving four different ski resorts in Shennongjia. It has also attracted more than ten thousand ski lovers who came to witness the great race with their own eyes.

“The four ski resorts involved in Shennongjia will draw at least 200 thousand tourists this year during the winter season,” said Feng Wei, director of the Tourism Committee of Shennongjia Forestry District.

On January 21, 2018, the International Children’s Ski Festival kicked off at the Shennongjia Tianyan Ski Resort in honor of World Snow Day.“Shennongjia was one of the 54 resorts in China that were affiliated with the fethestival, and was the only international one in Hubei. This indicates that Shennongjia has stepped outside of Hubei and become known across and outside of the country,”said Liu Shengce, director of the Culture, Sport, and Media Bureau of Shennongjia Forest District.

In addition, Shennongjia International Ice and Snow Sports School was set up with 62 fulltime coaches, able to train more than 60 thousand skiers annually. Many new, themed programs are being explored and installed in the ski resorts in Shennongjia, including Snow Counter-Strike Matches, Snowmobiling, Snow Tubing, Snow Ballooning, Ice Sculpture Exhibitions, a Snow Pet Wonderland, Night Parties, and other diverse recreational programs. Some ski resorts even conduct online live shows of the skiing activities.

January 28 witnessed a sunny day after a long streak of snowy weather. The fantastic scenery from the top of Shennongjia Mountain made Lin Ping, a tourist from Guangdong Province, feel stunned, and she couldn’t help taking photos of everything she saw. Because of the heavy snowfall from the previous days, many roads to the district were closed, but this did not dampen the enthusiasm of tourists from all over the country.

Currently, the opening of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and Beijing winning the bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics will surely be a boost for the winter sports market, with which Hubei Province will also be facing unprecedented opportunities for its winter sports and activities.◆

(Photos courtesy of Shennongjia News)

白雪皑皑，是八方冰雪客心中的向往。

入冬以来，以神农架为首的湖北境内雪场依托冰雪赛事，吸引越来越多游客前来滑雪、赏雪、娱雪，“赛”出冰雪经济的靓丽成绩单。

2017年12月28日，为期3天的湖北省第二届滑雪比赛在神农架国际滑雪场举行，各市州代表队及全国冰雪爱好者2000多人在此角逐雪地勇士之冠。

这场活动由湖北省体育局和神农架林区政府共同主办，它是湖北唯一的省级“滑雪赛事”，赛场涵盖神农架四个滑雪场，除了众多选手，还吸引1万余名普通滑雪游客前来观看。

“受赛事活动影响，神农架四个滑雪场，今年雪季将吸引至少20万人次前来滑雪。”神农架林区旅委主任冯威说。

1月21日，2018“世界雪日”暨国际儿童滑雪节在神农架天燕滑雪场欢乐开启。“作为全国54个分会场之一，也是湖北唯一的国际性分会场，说明神农架的冰雪品牌已经走出湖北，走向全国。”神农架林区文体新广局局长刘生策说。

而且，神农架国际冰雪运动学校业已经成立，62名专职“教师”每年可培训滑雪爱好者6万人次。此外，神农架各大滑雪场不断探索雪地CS、雪地摩托、雪圈、雪地氢气球、冰雕展、雪地萌宠乐园、夜场Party等多元化娱乐项目，让游客大呼过瘾，有的滑雪场甚至将滑雪直播搬上互联网……

1月28日，持续几天的降雪转晴，神农顶景区内的雪国风情，让广东游客林萍拿出手机一顿狂拍。此前因持续强降雪，多个景区道路结冰暂停营业，但这并未影响八方来客对湖北滑雪场的热情。

随着北京冬奥会的申办成功以及平昌冬奥会的来临，在冰雪赛事的引领下，湖北省冰雪市场迎来前所未有的发展机遇。◆（图片由神农架报社提供）

神农架林区政府副区长王常彬致词 Wang Changbin, vice governor of the Government of Shennongjia Forest Region delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Second Hubei Ski Race

啦啦队为滑雪赛选手助威 Cheering squad cheering the skiers