A tourist skids down the grassy hillside of Nandaihe International Entertainment Center. Photo: Courtesy of Zhang Zhichun

Han Jianjun, a 27-year-old Beijing-based environmentalist, climbed into a snub-nosed boat that had no paddles but did have a seatbelt. He settled himself inside and stretched his legs. Looking around, he saw multiple lanes, each with a boat and a person sitting inside. A coach checked to make sure all the seatbelts were buckled, then gave safety tips, telling them to avoid wiggling around while sitting inside or else the boat would tip over.

Then the coach gave his boat a push. With a jolt, the boat slid down the 20-meter-high hill.

"It went really fast - just a few seconds," Han said of his first try at grass sledding, which took place at an amusement park in Beidaihe, Hebei Province. The plunge evoked the excitement of a roller coaster. "It was better than playing on the slides when I was young."

Grass skiing, which originated in France in the 1960s as a way to train for alpine skiing in the off-season, has become a summer pastime in China. Instead of sitting idle after the snow melts, many ski resorts let grass grow on their hilly slopes to attract tourists who are looking for a rush.

According to Zhang Zhichun, the marketing director of Nandaihe International Entertainment Center in Hebei Province, grass sledding has been offered at the park since 1996, when it was still uncommon in China.

Usually, these hills are cultivated with natural grass or the turf species that are used for lawns and divided into ramps. Visitors can choose to either sit on a sled or strap on special skis. They perch at the top of one of the ramps, then give a push and let gravity take over. Both the Nandaihe and Beidaihe amusement parks offer sleds and boats. No helmets are provided, but the slope is not very steep - only about 30 degrees, preventing acceleration to dangerous speeds. At the bottom of the hill, there's a buffer strip where the gradient relaxes, allowing the thrill-seeker to coast to a stop.

Grass sledding was discontinued at two popular resorts in Beijing - Huaibei Grass Ski Resort and Shuanglongxia. At the former, the grass didn't grow evenly, and at the latter, the park decided that the sport wasn't safe.

Nandaihe uses yard grass, which is suited for most seasons and tends not to grow out bumpy.

The activity is gaining in popularity, Zhang said. At Nandaihe, the park entry fee of 120 yuan gives visitors access to a sandy beach, the grass slide and sand sledding. The park receives about 10,000 people a day, most of whom have come for the 40-meter-high green slopes.

Chen Weiqi, a college freshman from Shandong Province, also tried grass sledding for the first time at Beidaihe. She hasn't seen the activity offered in other amusement parks she has been to, including Happy Valley in Beijing.

Though grass sledding is relatively safe, the open-mouthed glee it inspires may be a hazard in its own right. "I screamed as I slid down," Chen said. "Bits of sand and grass flew into my mouth."