The Yabuli Skiing Resort (Yabuli Hua Xue Chang) is located in Shangzhi city, a rural town about 150km east of Harbin. As a sub-range of the Changbai Mountain Range (Changbai shan), the resort is one of the best natural skiing resorts in China. The area enjoys an average annual temperature of minus 1degrees ceti-grade and the freezing period of the region often lasts as long as six months, from October to April. The snow depth averages 39cm and can accumulate up to 60cm in high altitude regions.

The Resort is currently not only the biggest but also the best established and facilitated skiing resort in China. The Chinese government has invested over 150 million U.S. dollars and local investors have invested an additional 60 million U.S. dollars in improvements. These have resulted in a first-class water, electrical and communication system including fixed line optical fiber communications between Yabuli and major interchange points and a state of the art mobile telephone network that allows you to make both local and international calls virtually anywhere in the region. There is also a Youth Apartment block with over 300 beds where many younger visitors stay and where there is a much more lively atmosphere than the bigger hotels.

The 3800 meters long main skiing trail is located at an altitude of 1300m with cable car lifts for skiiers. The whole resort is surrounded by imposing mountain ranges lavishly covered with pine forests. There is a spectacular view from the ridges and wild animals are also frequently sighted in the resort. In February 1996, the Yabuli Ski Resort hosted the third Asian Winter Sports Games as the biggest winter sports event ever held in China.

The Heilongjiang International Ski Festival takes place from December 5th to January 5th and at this time the resort is filled with skiiers and tourists each year.

How to get there: There are a number of tourist trains daily to the resort from Harbin that take about 3 hours. The return ticket costs RMB60. After arriving at the town, mini tourist buses will transfer you to the tourist resort. If leaving from Mudanjiang, tourists can take the Harbin-Mudanjiang Highway and get off at Yabuli.

(Photo Source: baidu.com,Text Sorce: CRI.com)