Last weekend I spent in Beijing, and on Saturday we went skiing in Huaibei. The German Centre organized a trip there, and Qi and I decided to join. I knew several people on the trip already (among others Jeroen Berghuis from VOK DAMS and his staff, and Leif Goeritz who is a former colleague at DaimlerChrysler in Stuttgart and now managing director of the German Centre Beijing), but most people had arrived in Beijing after I left the city in 2002 so they were new to me.

The trip to Huaibei took just over an hour, except for a small traffic jam close to Huairou there were no delays. Huaibei is located close to Miyun, if you travel by car you should drive to Huairou, then in the direction of Miyun and follow the signs from there. You cannot really miss it, because it’s the only snow covered area you will see from the main road. Look for the resort on the left the moment you pass the Great Wall.

Huaibei Resort is not very big. 5 lifts, of which two chair lifts, and only one somewhat interesting downhill run. I always like rides in chair lifts because you have a good view and it’s very quiet. But not here, every single pole where the lift passes has loudspeakers with music on it to entertain the guests… Also the lifts were very old and rusty, we assumed they were second hand from Eastern Europe. At the top of the chairlift the lift operator was sound asleep in the sunshine. I later talked to two guys who thought that this was only the middle station, and did not leave the lift. The operator did not notice anything and kept on sleeping.

It was not as crowded as I had expected, and on the longest run there was hardly anybody. Except for our group there were only Chinese, and most of them were beginners. It was fun to watch some of them show off by going downhill full speed without making any turns or braking (because they did not know how to brake), and then falling at the end in order to slow down.

If you plan to go here, you don’t have to bring anything except for gloves and socks. Everything else can be rented. But make sure to spend some additional money on renting good ski’s. Mine really sucked, they were too short, were not waxed and probably around 20 years old (second-hand from Japan). There is a bar/restaurant at the place where the lifts start, that sells reasonable quality food. You can sit outside on wooden benches, watching the skiers and the slopes. Minor disadvantage is that the music is horrible (synthesizer covers of old Western songs) and a bit too loud.

The nice thing about Huaibei is that you actually ski right below the Great Wall, because the resort was built at the place where the road passes through the wall. Although I have been to the Wall tens of times, it is still a nice sight. A nice day trip if you live in Beijing, but not a place you want to go to every weekend (except maybe when you are a beginner).