Skiing, believe it or not, has slalomed it's way into Shanghai. For a city that seldom sees snow and is, of course, pancake flat you may be forgiven for thinking that I have quite simply gone mad.
But no - it is actually true. Well, kind of anyway, thanks to the 300 million yuan (US$36 million) development of an indoor ski slope by a Sino-Japanese joint venture fronted by Shanghai Dashun Hokkaido Skiing Co Ltd.
From Xinzhuang Metro Station, I took the free shuttle bus link to the site and saw for the first time this impressive, if slightly unreal, sight. Housed in something resembling a tilted aircraft hanger, the Shanghai North Star Indoor Skiing Site (North Star) is home to a slope that covers an area of 25,000sqm and boasts an overall length of 380 metres, making it the second largest in the world.
Snowdomes, as they have become fashionably known, first came into being back in 1987 with the opening of the Mt Thebarton complex in Adelaide, Australia. Since then snow-making techniques have become not only more advanced but also more economical, leading to other snow domes opening up, most notably in Europe and Japan.
Now, with the increasing affluence of China's citizens, it is China's turn with the Shanghai development the country's 3rd indoor site after the opening of similar sites in South China's Shenzhen in 2000 and, earlier this year in, North China's Chengde.
North Star is currently in a trial phase only opening its doors to a curious public some five weeks ago.
In the first few weeks, only the bottom 150m of the slope was open but this seemingly was not a deterrent, with the opportunity of gliding down the white stuff attracting about 500 people a day, increasing to 700 at weekends.
Indeed, the developers seem well placed to take advantage of a growing interest in a sport that has only recently begun to flourish.
Only 12 years ago it was estimated that as few as 200 people in China had skied. Today, however, thanks to the opening of several resorts, the most prominent being Yabuli in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, more than a million Chinese are estimated to have skied at least once. China is, quite simply, going ski mad.
North Star, undoubtedly, provides a unique opportunity for more people to try out not only skiing but snowboarding as well.
The slope is ideally suited to first-timers. The lower 150m section has a gentle gradient of 12 degrees providing an ample and safe area to test out those first turns. Higher up, the slope inclines upwards to a steeper newly opened 15 and as yet unopened 17 degrees thus catering for the intermediate skier or snowboarder. The total vertical descent from top to bottom stands at 42m.
The cost for a one and a half hour session, including equipment and clothing, is 100 yuan (US$12) (Mon-Fri 9:30am- 6:00pm) and 120 yuan (US$14.4) (Mon-Fri 6:00pm- 9:30pm and weekends). A further 60 yuan (US$7.2) will buy you a lesson with one of the site's five ski instructors.
The ticket purchase also entitles entry to the facility's bathing area. Further facilities include a cafe bar with views over the ski slope and a Chinese restaurant. Further developments are planned.
The owners hope to have the slope fully open before the end of the year. Phone ahead for details.
9:30am-9:30pm daily
North Star Indoor Skiing Site
1835 Qi Xing Lu, Minhang District
Tel: 5485-3248
www.skiing.com.cn
(Shanghai Star November 29, 2002)
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