From Olympic Host to Winter Sports Capital: China’s Snow Economy Heats Up
Four years after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics transformed China’s relationship with snow, the country’s winter sports economy has not only survived but thrived. According to China’s General Administration of Sport, over 360 million people participated in winter sports activities during the 2025–2026 season, up from 346 million during the Games season. What began as a state-backed push has become a genuine consumer-driven movement.
Walk through Beijing’s suburbs on a January weekend and you’ll see families loading skis onto SUVs heading for Nanshan or Taiwo Ski Resorts — just an hour’s drive from the city center. “I started skiing in early 2023 because a friend invited me,” says Zhao Wei, a 32-year-old marketing manager from Haidian District. “Now my wife and I go every other weekend during the season. Our five-year-old daughter has already outgrown her first pair of skis.”
China now boasts over 800 ski resorts across 30 provinces, including indoor ski domes in subtropical cities like Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The world’s largest indoor ski venue — Shanghai L+Snow Indoor Ski Resort — opened in 2025 with slopes long enough for advanced skiers. That same year, three new indoor facilities opened in southern cities where snow had never fallen naturally.
The numbers tell a compelling story: China’s winter sports market reached approximately 780 billion RMB (about $108 billion) in 2025, according to the China Ski Industry White Paper. Equipment sales alone grew by 28% year-on-year. Domestic brands like Nandao (Nandao Outdoor) and Tuobo (Toread) have captured market share once dominated by European and Japanese labels by offering gear tailored to Chinese body types at lower price points.
This boom reaches beyond the slopes. Chongli, the Hebei province town that hosted most Olympic skiing events, has transformed from a sleepy county into a year-round resort destination. “Before the Olympics, Chongli had about 20 hotels,” says Liu Ping, a local tourism official. “Now we have over 200, plus high-speed rail service that brings Beijing visitors here in 50 minutes.”
Young Chinese are driving much of this growth. Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) — China’s lifestyle social platform — sees millions of posts tagged with skiing and snowboarding content. On Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese version), the hashtag #滑雪 (huáxuě / skiing) has accumulated over 35 billion views. This social-media momentum has turned winter sports into a lifestyle badge, not just a recreational activity.
For comparison, this trend is similar to how China’s camping and outdoor trend reshaped domestic tourism among young urbanites, and how the cycling boom changed urban mobility. The winter sports economy draws the same demographic — young, urban, and eager for outdoor experiences.
The economic ripple effect extends to winter sports tourism packages, ski instruction schools, and winter gear rental services. Cities like Harbin and Yabuli have seen their winter tourism revenues more than double since 2022. Even traditionally warm provinces like Yunnan are getting into the game — Jiaozi Snow Mountain in Yunnan now operates year-round snow activities.
Of course, challenges remain. Climate change threatens natural snow reliability; most resorts now invest heavily in artificial snow-making systems. And while participation numbers are high, converting first-time skiers into lifelong enthusiasts remains an industry priority. But for now, China’s snow economy shows no signs of slowing down — and for millions of new winter sports fans, that’s exactly the forecast they want to hear.
