Building resorts

The establishment of a new ski resort in the city has also been high on the agenda of the municipal sports bureau. Before the end of this year, Shanghai will have a new resort called Wintastar, built over a 300,000-square-meter area in Lingang, Pudong, which will have three ski slopes and over 25 snow attractions open throughout the year. The city's previous ski resort, Silver Seven Stars, opened in 2002 but closed in 2010 due to high operational costs.

Wintastar is expected to be warmly welcomed considering the growing interest in winter sports in recent years, says Chen Guoqiang, an associate professor with Shanghai University of Sport. He notes that growing household incomes is also one of the main factors driving this trend.

"Beijing and Shanghai are among China's mega cities, and the GDP in both exceeds 4 trillion yuan," he says. "The development of winter sports in Shanghai will drive the industry to grow even further in the Yangtze River Delta region."

Statistics paint the same picture. According to figures from the municipal sports bureau, 2.8 million residents participated in winter sports last year, up from just 600,000 in 2017.

Chen notes that Shanghai is not a stranger to winter sports. The city has hosted the short-track speed skating and figure skating world championships. The International Ski Federation also held its cross-country skiing competition in Shanghai for the first time in December.

"The promotion of winter sports will also contribute to Shanghai's drive to become a globally famous sport city in 2025," says Chen.

Andrew Xu, CEO of Club Med China, a French premium resorts brand, shares the same sentiments, pointing out that many Shanghai residents already frequent ski resorts in northern China, Japan and Europe.

"Compared with people from the rest of China, Shanghai residents are more willing to travel long distances and spend their holidays at ski resorts," says Xu. "There is a big circle of skiing enthusiasts in Shanghai. When I visited Club Med's newly opened ski resort in the Changbai Mountains in Northeast China recently, I walked into an elevator filled with people speaking in the Shanghai dialect."

Xu, who is also the executive president of Fosun Tourism Group, points out that the company is currently building an indoor ski resort in Taicang, Jiangsu province, located just an hour's drive away from downtown Shanghai.

"We see a lot of potential in winter sports driving the growth of the leisure industry in China," he says. "The Beijing Winter Olympic Games is only the beginning."