Athletes wearing different ski suits sped away on the trail, with snowflakes under their feet splashing, in a full testament to exhilarating winter sports. The 2025 Shandong Provincial Skiing Challenge for the 11th Nationwide Winter and Ice Season, which recently kicked off in Cangma Mountain Ski Resort in Cangma Town, West Coast New Area of Qingdao, has drawn the participation of more than 220 skiing enthusiasts from across the world.

Comprising an adult group and a teenager group, the challenge includes a variety of items such as skiing giant slalom, snowboarding giant slalom, U10 women’s giant slalom, U10 men’s giant slalom, U16 women’s giant slalom and U16 men’s giant slalom to showcase the charm of ice-snow sports in full respects and unfold a vigorous mass campaign for winter sports.

Among the most famous in Qingdao, the Cangma Mountain Ski Resort, following full-scale improvements in 2024, boasts the first nighttime skiing venue, the first park ski run, the first trail for the exclusive purpose of teaching and the first S-shaped skiing circle. Moreover, it has launched recreational activities such as Chinese fashion shows and nighttime disco dancing during the snow amusement festival to deliver utterly new experiences to citizens and tourists.

The event epitomizes the thriving ice-snow tourism in Qingdao. As the winter holiday approaches, the highest number of visitors received by the Jinshan Ski Resort in Jimo District on a single day has reached some 800. The figure is expected to hit 2,000 in the Spring Festival holiday.

To boost ice-snow tourism, the Qingdao Municipal Sports Bureau has recently joined efforts with nearly 100 winter sports venues and scenic spots across the city to roll out more than 200 preferential measures in a bid to encourage the masses to take outdoor exercise and enable them to enjoy winter sports.  (Wang Kai)

The 2025 Shandong Provincial Skiing Challenge kicks off in the Cangma Mountain Ski Resort.  By Xing Zhifeng