5 Things You Need To Know Before Skiing in Nanshan

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With the Winter Olympics occupying ski resorts in Chongli, many more people are flocking to Beijing’s closest ski resort in Nanshan, nestled in the Miyun district. If you’ve never been to Nanshan, or any ski resort in Beijing, there are a few important things you should know beforehand. Even if you have been skiing in Beijing before, you might discover a hack or two in the following article!

1. Use a ski card holder

At Nanshan ski resort you’ll be given a ski card that you put a deposit of RMB 400 on. This amount can be used to rent equipment and purchase food at the on-site cafes, but more importantly, you need it to enter each and every ski lift or ski slope. If you lose it, well, good luck getting your deposit back!

The ski jackets you can rent at Nanshan come equipped with a nifty card holder on the outside, which allows you to easily extend the card to swipe for entry to the slopes. But if you’re not renting a jacket from them, trust me when I say it is extremely cumbersome, not to mention embarrassing, to hold up the line while you fumble for the card in your pocket with gloved hands. So bring a card holder that you can sling around your neck or wrist. This goes for the kids too!

2. Get fingerless, touchscreen-able, or clip-on gloves

You are going to have your phone with you on the slopes, whether for photo-taking purposes or for emergencies. But I’ve seen many a lost glove abandoned on the slopes because they had to be removed in order to handle touchscreen smart phones! Either get fingerless gloves or gloves that are touchscreen-friendly so you can retain use of your phone without taking them off. It pays to invest a little in a good pair as there are many gloves that claim to be touchscreen-able but really fall short. Alternatively, you could get a pair of gloves that clip to each other so you won’t lose one! Note that all ski equipment including helmets, ski googles, ski suits, gloves and shoes can all be rented at the resort individually. Excluding a jacket, it cost us about RMB150 to rent everything we needed, even the skis.

3. Enjoy lamb pies, chuan'r, and Starbucks

The cafe attached to the main building of the ski resort at Nanshan not only offers real Starbucks coffee, but also a local secret to staying warm and well-fed while participating in the exhausting sport of skiing: lamb! According to local belief, lamb meat has intrinsic “heating” properties and can keep the body warm from within. The lamb pies and lamb skewers here (locally termed chuan'r) are freshly roasted on the grill out at the al-fresco dining area of the cafe and they are delicious. You can order and pay for them using your ski card at the cafe, but you’ll need to go to the grill man outside with your receipt to claim them!

4. Explore the slopes

The first slopes you’ll see upon exiting the resort after getting all geared up are the beginner slopes, or bunny slopes as I affectionately call them. They all provide only a gentle degree of slope so you can build up your confidence. Note that the slope with the mushroom decorations are only accessible if you have a kid. One child must be accompanied by only one adult to gain entry to this slope. The other slopes are open for all.

As a beginner, I pretty much only stick around the bunny slopes. But recently, on a lark, I decided to venture further and took the ski lift up to a spot where the course was divided – to the left was an intermediate slope that spelled certain butt injury for me, and to the right was a gentle beginner trail. I went right and halfway down the slope, we discovered an entire plateau with more slopes! This was completely hidden from view at the bottom of the resort! The moral of the story is not to let your skiing skill, whatever level it is, hold you back from exploring different courses and trails. Of course, if you are able to decipher the map provided at the resort, you might find even more surprises waiting on the slopes!

5. Hire a local driver

Both times we organized a day trip to Nanshan we employed the services of a local driver. This is super handy because a) they know better when to go so you can avoid the crowds, b) they are much more familiar with the operations and prices and won’t incur “extra” costs which our foreign faces may, and c) they can help secure a table at the restaurant, and if you have a good relationship they might even help you with the younger ones!

There are many local driver recommendations to be found in the expat community, but I have always employed husband and wife duo Eric and Lily. Lily in particular has always been super helpful with offering snacks or watching our stuff and entertaining the kids. You can scan Lily’s QR code below.

There you have it, five hacks to make your skiing experience in Nanshan as smooth as the beautiful, snowy slopes! Keep in mind that a day pass (RMB210, excluding RMB20 for admission) will allow you to ski from 9am - 5pm. There’s also a 4-hour day pass for RMB190, but if you go over the time limit you can be charged. Nanshan is also known for night skiing, which costs only RMB145 and lets you ski from 4-8pm.

Images: Vivienne Tseng-Rush, Larissa Cosima Tropp, Dianping

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