Ya Ya Yabuli

Tucked away up in China’s frigid northeast is a small ski resort area called Yabuli. The name Yabuli comes from the Russian for “apple fields.” The Manchu nobles used the area as a hunting ground during the Qing dynasty. The DH and I spent two days at Yabuli over the Chinese New Year this past February.

The special ski train from Harbin to Yabuli

All I can say is it felt a little surreal. There I was, a failed snow sports enthusiast, perched on a vinyl bench in the chaotic equipment rental hall of the Sun Mountain Ski Resort at Yabuli, China’s “premier” ski destination. It was three in the afternoon and all around me Chinese skiers and snowboarders stripped off their boots, hats and gloves, and in some cases, their entire skiing outfits. Some stuffed their gear into specially built bags with names like Burton, Atomic, Salomon… some of which I recognized from my former glory days as an eight year old skiing prodigy. Others returned their rented equipment to the various boot, ski and pole stations. There was lots of laughter as friends and family reunited and shared stories of their adventures on the slopes.

I became aware that the group immediately surrounding me were Harbin locals, up to Yabuli for a day of skiing. They were getting ready for their bus trip back to the city, most all of them carrying their own equipment back towards the bus. Another small group to my right consisted of a wealthy family, the mom preening over her daughter’s authentic Burton snow suit and the father chatting away on his iphone. To my left a middle-aged man sat on the bench in just his thermal underwear waiting for his wife to bring him his street clothes. I prayed he wouldn’t want to make conversation with me. He didn’t.

Equipment rental hall at Sun Mountain Resort

This whole situation will seem completely normal to anyone who has spent time at a ski resort, but this is not what I expected to find in China. I admit my ignorance. I didn’t expect to find a recreational skiing culture here. This embrace of skiing should not have surprised me. As the middle classes grow and China’s elite embrace the Capitalist road, why wouldn’t a luxe ski resort be available?

I don’t want to say that Yabuli ski area is a luxury ski resort. Because it is not. But compared to the other “ski resort” I saw in Shandong Province, it is well on its way to being luxe! Actually, Yabuli does have one five-star hotel/resort, which is very nice.

To understand Yabuli, you have to know that “Yabuli” refers to an area that includes three separate resorts, each with their own ski runs, lift tickets and equipment rental. They are all located within a (approximately) five square kilometer area on the side of one mountain. One fairly small mountain. There is an excellent overview, with photos here. (Must reading for anyone considering a trip there.)

Overview of the three resort areas, with Sun Mountain a little cutoff (photo from Avaunce website)

The first area is called Avaunce (Avaunce International Convention & Exhibition Center) and I will unequivocally tell you to avoid this place at all costs. Avaunce is basically a bunny hill and one tiny chair lift to a slightly bigger hill with two lousy and short ski runs. (Both of which feature ridiculous grades at the very top and shallow grades at the bottom, making them difficult for beginners.) You pay a flat fee for 2 hours, half day or full day, which includes access to the hill and equipment rental. (This is standard issue at all three resorts.) Except at Avaunce, oh, did we forget to tell you? You’ll have to pay extra for the chair lift, but no one will tell you that until you are already on the lift, wherein an old man will come out of the chair lift control shack yelling at you. Basically, everyone who comes to Avaunce uses the bunny hill only, so I guess they figured they’d price gouge an extra 60RMB for their ridiculously bad chair lift/advanced runs. The attached hotel has nice rooms, but they’re super expensive, as is the only dining option, the hotel restaurant.

Avaunce – big but bad (photo from their website)

The second area is actually called Yabuli Ski Resort. This is the part of the mountain that hosted the 1996 Asian Winter Games and the 2009 Winter Universiade. We thought this area would probably provide the best access to advanced slopes, but when we got there to look around, it was crowded and confusing and the more advanced slopes were not open.

Crowds of skiers at Yabuli Ski Resort

Ski jumps used at Asian Winter Games

Half-Pipe!!??

The third area is the Sun Mountain Resort, which is China’s first 5 star ski resort. It has a definite “ski village” feel to it, down to the alpine design of the lodges. It features a heated gondola lift to the top of the ski runs. This resort had the feel of an American style resort and, in my opinion, has the most efficient system for purchasing lift tickets and renting equipment. If we had it to do over again, we would have purchased a package to stay here for two or three days instead of staying at Avaunce. Of course, with all this efficiency and good-looks, you also have to pay American style prices, something that the DH and I are just not accustomed to doing.

American-style Sun Mountain Resort

Short lines and heated gondola – pretty classy

Sun Mountain Resort – there is another small hotel at the top of the mountain

Ski map for Sun Mountain – it looks a whole lot more glorious than it actually is!

How is the skiing? The Yabuli area experienced a warmer than usual winter this year, so the resorts rely on artificial snow. The quality of the artificial snow is never as good as the real thing, but the DH reports the conditions were not bad. He thought the snow quality would work well for beginners. After only two hours, however, he had covered the entire Sun Mountain area and didn’t feel too challenged. If you are an expert, skiing here could easily become boring.

Skiing here is conservative – Other than the advertisements, we saw no “ski bunnies”

Cons? Getting around. The best way to arrive at the resort is via the special ski train that departs Harbin every morning at around 7:30. The train arrives directly to the ski area at the Yabuli South Railway Station. (The normal Yabuli Railway Station is about 25 kilometers away in the actual town of Yabuli.) Most of the hotels will have a shuttle waiting at the train station, so look out for your name or the name of the hotel. Unfortunately, we had originally booked in a small hotel not associated with a resort and there was no one waiting for us at the train station. With the help of the local police, we figured out we could walk to the hotel from the station. (It was about 500 meters up the road.)

Beautiful snow-covered views from train. This place looks frigid!!

Once ensconced in your resort, it is very difficult to get from one resort to the other. Small vans drive around picking people up, but they want to charge outrageous prices, anywhere from 30RMB to 150RMB, to drive 2 kilometers. Bad. We walked, but the roads were icy and no sidewalks were available.

Prices. Everything is expensive, from hotel rooms to dining. Typical ski resort. You’re stuck there, so you basically have to pay. In addition, service is not… how shall we say… up to crazy Western-style prices. It’s one thing to pay a lot of money and have impeccable service, it’s another to pay a lot and have hassle and frustration.

On the language side of things, if you speak no Mandarin, come very prepared or travel with a Mandarin speaker. At Sun Mountain some of the staff speak English, but at the other resorts there is very little English. You can get by with broken Mandarin and a smattering of English, but it could get stressful.

My verdict?

Come to Yabuli only if you have some sort of Bucket list that involves skiing in China. (To be honest you’ll save yourself a ton of money and frustration by skiing at one of the small hills north of Beijing.)

Come to Yabuli if you really want to ski, you are a beginner, you have a bundle of cash and for whatever reason (lack of passport) you can’t leave China.

Otherwise, don’t bother.

Another surreal moment – ski rack on a car – very unusual sight in China!

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Tagged as: China, ski, skiing, Travel, Yabuli