There are tons of reasons to book a vacation to China but its ski scene goes largely under that radar for international travelers. Despite the lack of recognition as a ski destination, China quietly boasts over 700 ski resorts, the most of any nation in the world.
Join ex-pat vlogger Joel Griffin as he ventures to Genting Resort Secret Garden Ski Area, just over an hour by high-speed train from Beijing. The resort was completed in 2011 and was host to the Olympic freestyle skiing and snowboarding events of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Genting (summit elevation 6,889 feet) has five Doppelmayr chairlifts servicing 257 skiable acres.
There’s a lot to appreciate about the Chinese ski experience but Griffin particularly enjoyed the resort’s slopeside McDonald’s where you can park you skis at the entrance, eat a Big Mac, and ski away. Pretty novel if you’re coming from America.
Overall Griffin’s review of the resort was positive but he did find the mandatory facial recognition scanning for ticket verification somewhat puzzling as skiers and snowboarders had to remove their goggles and balaclavas in -13°F temps just to ride the lifts. Locals don’t appreciate it either and when the put up a stink about keeping their faces warm employees have to step in to scan everyone’s passes manually.
Modern infrastructure, wide range of slopes, a world-class halfpipe and slopeside Micky Ds, if you’re ever in the neighborhood might be worth ripping some laps at Genting.
