Xinhua News Agency, the official state news agency of the People’s Republic of China, is reporting that indoor snow centres are driving booming numbers of skiers and snowboarders in China’s southern provinces.

A new report on China’s ski industry has revealed a 12.9 percent increase in visits to ski facilities across the country, climbing to 26.05 million during the 2024-2025 winter season. Four provinces south of China’s north-south geographic divide — Zhejiang, Hubei, Guangdong and Sichuan — ranked among the top 10 provincial-level regions nationwide in ski visits.  Most of their ski areas are indoors.

Over the last two months, Wuhan in Hubei Province is now home to four indoor ski facilities which collectively welcomed more than 420,000 visitors in the first two months of this year.

Li Mengshi, a tourist from south China’s Guangzhou, was a recent visitor at the WS Bonski ski slope in Wushang Dream Plaza. Arriving with only a small handbag, she represents the new “lightweight” class of Chinese skiers.

“I visited the city’s iconic attractions this morning, had a big lunch in the mall, and then took the elevator up here to ski,” Li said, adjusting her goggles.

According to Li, a three-hour ski ticket costs 188 yuan (about 27 U.S. dollars), and a day pass is priced at 258 yuan. Both include everything a beginner needs: boots, helmets, and even the thick winter clothing required to endure the indoor temperature of minus 6 degrees Celsius.

“I didn’t prepare any gear. It’s as easy as going to the cinema,” she said.

Li’s comments point to a new driver of the ice and snow economy in China’s warmer south: indoor ski locations that offer a more affordable alternative to days-long trips to snowy peaks in the north.

Instead, these artificial pistes have been brought directly to potential consumers, appearing in shopping malls and benefiting from subway access and all-inclusive gear rental options. Operators of such facilities brand skiing as an urban leisure activity, looking to draw in amateurs and aficionados alike.

“Since the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, mall ski slopes have become a business model that transforms a previously elite sport into a repeatable urban hobby,” said Zhang Desheng, a professor at Wuhan Sports University. “This is also a significant shift from the past, when skiing was a highly seasonal sport,” he said.

China aims to boost its ice and snow economy as a new source of growth, eyeing an economic scale of 1.2 trillion yuan by 2027, and 1.5 trillion yuan by 2030, according to guidelines released by the country’s State Council.

Despite high market expectations, experts have noted some challenges that southern indoor ski facilities face.

“Unlike outdoor slopes in the north, these indoor facilities generally rely on artificial snow and constant refrigeration, leading to higher operating costs,” Zhang said, adding that winter visitor traffic alone is not enough to sustain them.

De-seasonalization is one possible solution. According to Ma Rui, marketing manager of Wuhan Chengjian Bonski, which runs the biggest indoor ski facility in central China, the company operates year-round and has turned the sweltering summer months into a peak ski season.

“We’re also pivoting toward youth training to nurture a new generation of high-frequency skiers,” Ma noted. “We’ll partner with local schools to promote the sport and enlarge the talent pool.”