An aerial drone photo taken on Nov. 16, 2025 shows the snow scenery of a park in Fujin City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Photo: Xinhua

As China enters Minor Snow, or Xiaoxue, the 20th solar term of the traditional Chinese calendar, the early winter chill is being met with rising enthusiasm as well as the major FIS World Cup China season for ice-and-snow tourism across the country. From Northeast China to the capital region, major winter destinations are launching a new snow season with international sports events upgraded facilities, expanded events and ambitious tourism goals, signaling the start of what officials and industry watchers expect to be a robust year for winter sports and cultural tourism.

The Yanqing Olympic Zone in Beijing is set to host a series of major competitions, establishing itself as a hub for both elite and grassroots winter sports. Over the coming months, the zone plans to stage 12 international and domestic events, including the 2025-2026 IBSF Skeleton Asian Cup. Organizers said these events will support a multilayered competition ecosystem that spans professional athletics, youth development and mass participation.

In addition to competitions, the center will continue to serve as a base for high-performance training. More than 50 national and provincial teams are expected to conduct winter training in the park, where they will receive full-chain support ranging from physical conditioning and technical analysis to rehabilitation and recovery services, a system that officials say strengthens China's winter sports talent pipeline.

The broader Beijing-Zhangjiakou region is also warming up for a busy season. Preparations have been completed for the FIS Freeski & Snowboard Big Air World Cup set to be held from Monday to Sunday at Yunding Snow Park. Snow sports fans at the venue have reported spotting top athletes, including Gu Ailing and Su Yiming, practicing on site as they prepare for the competition, adding excitement ahead of the event's kickoff.

Beyond competitive sports, northern cities known for their winter tourism are also stepping up their seasonal attractions.

In Northeast China's Jilin Province, one of the country's landmarks in ice-snow tourism and home to five national-level ski tourism resorts, the 2025-26 snow season officially opened on Saturday at the CITS Songhua Lake Resort in Jilin City. 

The ceremony on Friday night marked the beginning of more than 800 ice-and-snow-themed activities planned across the province for the new season with 266 performers dressed in full Peking Opera costumes gliding down the slopes of Songhua Lake on skis, creating a vivid display of colors against the dark winter sky. 

According to the event organizers, the performance set a Guinness World Record for "the most people skiing one kilometer in Peking Opera costumes," a moment that impressed both onlookers and local residents. "I saw it with my own eyes a whole group of people dressed in orange and red opera costumes skiing down the snowy slope at the temperature of minus 20 degrees," Xu Jingman, a participant from Jilin, told the Global Times on Sunday. "They came rushing toward us and kicked up a wall of snow. It was incredibly powerful and moving."

The new season also comes with ambitious development targets. According to the Xinhua News Agency, Jilin has set a goal of receiving more than 180 million ice-and-snow tourists and generating over 330 billion yuan ($46 billion) in total tourism spending this winter. Jilin cultural and tourism officials confirmed to the Global Times that the province will launch a diverse array of new winter tourism products this season. Visitors can expect new offerings, including rime-forest rafting, snowfield trekking, themed photography tours and winter study-tour programs. 

As Jilin's mountains roared to life with pageantry and new offerings, China's capital Beijing also ushered in its winter sports season. The Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Center, located in the Beijing Olympic Zone, officially opened its slopes for the 2025-26 season on Saturday, signaling the start of the capital's new snow cycle.

In 2025, 13 professional ski trails will open to the public, including the Olympic downhill training course, which was made accessible to the public for the first time last season. The diverse range of trails is designed to accommodate skiers from beginner to advanced levels, providing more choices for local enthusiasts and tourists alike.

In Northeast China's Harbin Province, preparations for the 27th Harbin Ice and Snow World are also in full swing.

Sun Zemin, deputy head of the park's marketing department, told the Global Times on Sunday that this year's park will use a total of 400,000 cubic meters of ice and snow. New entertainment features and an upgraded ice-snow stage have been added, with expanded performance content and longer shows aimed at enriching the visitor experience.

"We are making full use of natural bodies of water," Sun said. "New projects such as winter fishing and cross-country skiing are being added to create new 'ice-and-snow plus sports' scenarios, and we also plan to host snow soccer, ice hockey and other events."