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)

白雪皚皚，是八方冰雪客心中的向往。

入冬以來，以神農架為首的湖北境內雪場依托冰雪賽事，吸引越來越多游客前來滑雪、賞雪、娛雪，“賽”出冰雪經濟的靚麗成績單。

2017年12月28日，為期3天的湖北省第二屆滑雪比賽在神農架國際滑雪場舉行，各市州代表隊及全國冰雪愛好者2000多人在此角逐雪地勇士之冠。

這場活動由湖北省體育局和神農架林區政府共同主辦，它是湖北唯一的省級“滑雪賽事”，賽場涵蓋神農架四個滑雪場，除了眾多選手，還吸引1萬余名普通滑雪游客前來觀看。

“受賽事活動影響，神農架四個滑雪場，今年雪季將吸引至少20萬人次前來滑雪。”神農架林區旅委主任馮威說。

1月21日，2018“世界雪日”暨國際兒童滑雪節在神農架天燕滑雪場歡樂開啟。“作為全國54個分會場之一，也是湖北唯一的國際性分會場，說明神農架的冰雪品牌已經走出湖北，走向全國。”神農架林區文體新廣局局長劉生策說。

而且，神農架國際冰雪運動學校業已經成立，62名專職“教師”每年可培訓滑雪愛好者6萬人次。此外，神農架各大滑雪場不斷探索雪地CS、雪地摩托、雪圈、雪地氫氣球、冰雕展、雪地萌寵樂園、夜場Party等多元化娛樂項目，讓游客大呼過癮，有的滑雪場甚至將滑雪直播搬上互聯網……

1月28日，持續幾天的降雪轉晴，神農頂景區內的雪國風情，讓廣東游客林萍拿出手機一頓狂拍。此前因持續強降雪，多個景區道路結冰暫停營業，但這并未影響八方來客對湖北滑雪場的熱情。

隨著北京冬奧會的申辦成功以及平昌冬奧會的來臨，在冰雪賽事的引領下，湖北省冰雪市場迎來前所未有的發展機遇。◆（圖片由神農架報社提供）

神農架林區政府副區長王常彬致詞 Wang Changbin, vice governor of the Government of Shennongjia Forest Region delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Second Hubei Ski Race

啦啦隊為滑雪賽選手助威 Cheering squad cheering the skiers