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Shenzhen to get world’s largest indoor indoor ski resort as big as ‘11 football pitches’
- The world’s largest indoor ski resort, Wanda Snow Park in northern China, is the size of about nine football pitches
- State of the art facilities at new Shenzhen snow park will include 83m ski drop and 441m single ski track, both records for China
Published: 4:00pm, 16 Jul, 2023An artist’s illustration of Ice and Snow World by Zhuhai Huafa Group, due to be ready in November 2025. Photo: Handout
China’s southern tech hub of Shenzhen is building what could be the world’s largest indoor ski resort.
Spread over more than 10 hectares (24 acres), Shenzhen’s Ice and Snow World resort will feature winter sports facilities across 8 hectares – “an area equal to 11 football pitches” – the Shenzhen city government said on its official WeChat account.
China is already home to some of the world’s biggest indoor ski facilities, including record holder Wanda Snow Park in northern Heilongjiang province, which covers an area equal to about nine football pitches.
State-owned Zhuhai Huafa Group has invested over 29.6 billion yuan (US$4.15 billion) in the Shenzhen project, which is expected to be ready by November 2025.
Located next to the Shenzhen World Convention and Exhibition Centre, the resort is expected to attract tourists from around the world, and compete with other mega theme parks such as Shanghai Disneyland and Universal Studios in Beijing, the Shenzhen government statement said.
State of the art facilities at the Shenzhen snow park will include a ski drop of about 83m (272 feet) and a 441m single ski track, both records for China.
The complex – shaped like a blue whale leaping out of the water – will also include themed hotels and shopping centres to draw tourists.
“With the theme of ice and snow as the core feature, we expect to create an efficient and complex cultural tourism complex,” Hu Qi, an official in charge of design at Zhuhai Huafa, told the Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily.
The paper also spoke to Huang Yuanchao, deputy general manager of Huafa’s Shenzhen branch, who said: “After the project opens in 2025, it is expected that the annual influx of tourists will reach one million. It will host international competitions and promote skiing for all. At the same time, it will also help to boost development around the area.”
A statement from Huafa said snow quality at the resort would meet the standards for hosting international skiing competitions, and future plans might include starting a youth winter games training camp.
Shenzhen has two smaller indoor skiing resorts – a 0.43 hectare facility at the Window of the World theme park and a 0.54 hectare complex named Karoo Ice Snow, which opened in April.
Indoor ski resort as big as ‘11 football pitches’ to open in China’s Shenzhen by 2025
The world’s largest indoor ski resort, Wanda Snow Park in northern China, is the size of about nine football pitches.
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