Hey everyone, I am a University of Colorado at Boulder student studying abroad in Kunming. I am dying to hit the slopes once the season comes around. Does anyone know of any skiing possibilities in Yunnan? I don't have gear here so I would have to rent. Would be unbelievably stoked to hear a positive response.

-Brent

You won't get too much good news other than Gulmarg in Kashmir and Hokkaido are not all that far away. Northeast China has plenty of resorts and Xinjiang has built some too, but being from Colorado you will be most disappointed. There are back country opportunities outside of Zhongdian as well as a one-run ski lift, but it will take you some exploration and luck to get hooked up with gear, get some good snow and do it all safely. Gulmarg and Hokkaido are the places to go. Also, you might find some cheap summer flights to New Zealand...

I've been looking into this too, as it would be awesome to say that I've skiied in China (I'm a big skiier from Canada). It looks like there is a resort at Jade Snow Mountain, and is the highest altitude ski resort in all of China at about 4500m (13,500 ft.). I haven't been able to find anything about cost - but would be worth checking out anyways. My boyfriend will be in Yunnan in November. Maybe we'll see you there!

@colinflahive, you been to either hokaido or gulmarg? or nz?
@mamakwan, jsm looks like an icy ski out with tons of beginner tourists sliding on edges down the 'mountain' which is 1000m by 600m. unless there are bakcountry oportunities, it'll be icier than winnipeg in january.

For the real powpow, and real mtn riding, i'll get myself together and head out to bc, wyoming, oregon, colorado or the ultimate dream, alaska. nz sounds good but the best places are not covered by lifts, so unless you've got skins and can tough it, good luck. golmag, ever try arranging logistics in india? ln the meantime, boys and girls, i'm gonna watch that's it, that's all, art of flight and deeper again today.

and one more thing, hokaido, sounds good, but yuo'll wnt to skip the radiation from fkushima for now. imo, not worth getting cesium poisoning for a few sweet turns.

My wife and I went skiing in Yabuli in Heilongjiang province. There are multiple lifts and it was the site of the Asian winter games. It's not Colorado or the Sierras, but it's not bad and there is equipment rental for even large sizes. The biggest drawbacks are daytime temperatures in the -35 range and some spotty snow cconditions.

And it also seems that you can go skiing near to Kunming, at Shangri La, but I don't have more informations... Sure, in China, it'll be worse than Canada, NZ, etc. but nearer if the snow desire is too intense! ;)

If you want to have a trip (skiiiiii!!!) or for begining, have a drink, I am from a french business school and here for 10 month!

There is only one ski resort in Yunnan, namely the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Ski Resort, which is the warmest ski resort in China with the annual average temperature of 0.3 centigrade degree. In China, you may find some other famous ski resorts in these cities or provinces: Beijing, Urumqi, Shanxi (Shanxi Wulong Ski Resort), Sichuan (Xiling Snow Mountain Ski Resort), Jilin, Shandong and Heilongjiang.

Here is the introduction about the Xiling Snow Mountain Ski Resort www.chinafacttours.com/[...]

Here you can find many ski resorts in Heilongjiang
www.chinafacttours.com/[...]

I looked into this topic earlier this year. I considered Yunnan (too under-developed), Yabuli (logistics are a pain from Harbin and too cold most of year, plus monopoly deal with leisure firm makes it expensive for China), Hokkaido (went skiing in Japan several years ago and it was twice the price of skiing in Europe!). In the end I went for, what turned out to be, a great solution. I flew to Beijing, then arranged a car (buses go there too) to a town called Chongli in Chongli County (about 4 hours drive north of Beijing). There are a few hotels there you can stay in. From Chongli you can get to two ski resorts easily by taxi: Duolemeidi(sounds like Dolomites - so you can guess the Italians have invested in it). It's relatively small but good lifts so you can spend a few days skiing here. Then you can go to a much bigger resort called Wanlong (again about 15 mins by taxi). This has many more pistes - all grades and you could easily ski here for a week and not get bored.

You should know that the apres ski scene is dull as dishwater generally in China, so don't bother staying at the resorts themselves. Chongli has some things to do, but the great thing about this trip is that you can top and tail it with a few days in Beijing where the restaurant/bar scene is great. Re skiwear, I bought some Salomon and Northface clothing in Kunming (shop in Long Xiang Jie - thanks Tom!) at a knock-down price (probably seconds/over-run, but not fakes), then I rented boots/skis at the resorts (I have size 48 European feet and there was no problem - they even broke open a new box in Duolemeidi!). The other great thing about skiing in China is that midweek you practically have the whole place to yourself - imagine no queues!
Finally, remember that these places cater for pisted downhill skiing. If you are an off-piste powder skier, there are others on this forum far better qualified to advise.
I did also try a couple of smaller resorts 30 mins from Beijing but, to be honest, the low altitude and lateness in the season meant the experience was not a good one.
If you want to get further info, or if you want me to send you a couple of photos, let me know. I would be more than happy to help.

I am interested by photos... and looking for good partners for trip on november or december.