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Culture
Event 
| Looking
for a place to snowboard, or ski, in China? Check out Yabuli Ski Resort (Yabuli huaxue chang). This is one of the better ones, located in Shangzhi city, about 150km east of Harbin. As a sub-range of the Changbai Mountain Range (Changbai shan), the resort is one of the best natural skiing resorts in China. But not for the "bunny-slope" skier. The area enjoys an average annual temperature of minus 1 degrees C., the freezing period of the region being often as long as six months, from October to April. The snow depth averages 39cm and gets up to 60cm in high altitude regions. Yabuli Ski Resort has the highest documented visitor levels and last year received 110,000 visits. Average skiers on a weekend is 400 skiers per day with the number of visitors peaking at several thousand a day during the spring festival. Other ski resorts see similar or lesser usage although over a much shorter season due to limited snow and lesser ski runs and other facilities. Of all the ski resort in China, Yabuli will continue to maintain its lead as the premier resort. This is because the resorts geographical position and climate give it the best snow within relatively close distance to major population areas. The central and provincial government has continued to support infrastructure development in the region. A 26-seat Helicopter service using quite reliable Russian-made helicopters is currently available from Harbin airport for a price of slightly less than USD 200. Other arrivals are through either the airport in Mudanjiang or Harbin with further transport by land or by arrival by train. Government approval for an airport, acquisition of the property and securing of all necessary permits, etc. has been already completed and is only awaiting actual construction which would take less than a year. With this airport in place, direct tourist arrivals could be arranged daily from Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan which would really make the area boom. The Resort is currently not only the biggest but
also the best-established and facilitated skiing resorts in China
and boasts 17 trails and a vertical drop of 8,700 feet. Cable car
lifts are available. Imposing mountain ranges lavishly covered with
pine forests surrounds the whole resort. Besides the spectacular
view, wild animals are also frequent sights on the resort. In February
1996, the Yabuli Ski Resort hosted the third Asian Winter Sports
Games, the biggest winter The Heilongjiang International Ski Festival takes
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