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Winter Wonderlands on Your Doorstep! Beijing Ice and Snow Festival

o one needs reminding that Winter's snow and ice have their drawbacks. But the ele- ments can also provide a large measure of seasonal fun for locals and tourists alike, be it skiing, ice-skating and climbing, and even go-kart racing around iced courses covered by snow. Children love it all just as much as their parents, especially when this part of China's January-February Snow and Ice Festivals come around. Check our locations list, and get your winter woolies out of storage!

The city's Tourism Administration is again encouraging people to enjoy the great outdoors, especially among the snow-capped mountains surrounding the city. This is the capital's second such festival, embracing the counties and districts of Yanqing, Pinggu, Huairou, Changping, Fangshan, Miyun and Mentougou.

Seventh Yanqing Snow and Ice Festival
The county furthest north-west of Beijing, Yanqing is usually the first in presenting its delightful ice lanterns to visitors, and welcoming them to its ski slopes. From 8-9pm on January 1, 2, 18 and 19, and February 13-14, the main streets of Yanqing County will be the scene of seasonal dress parades by foreign students and groups from seven counties.

Longqingxia Gorge has already started its 16th Ice Lantern Festival, with ice sculptures depicting Chinese landscapes and Olympic themes. In Kangxi Grassland areas, visitors can ride horses and travel aboard ice boats and sleighs. Shijinglong Skiing Ground has been expanded to accommodate more skiers and skaters, and in addition visitors can this year hire snow bicycles and motorcycles. Following tradition, they can also enjoy mountain-climbing on New Year's Day at Badaling Great Wall.
Getting there: To Badaling Great Wall, tourist buses Nos. 1 to 5 from Dongdaqiao or Beijing Zoo. To Longqingxia Gorge: tourist bus No. 8 from Qianmen, Andingmen. Kangxi Grassland: Bus 919 branch line (zhi xian), from Deshengmen. Yanqing Town: Luxury bus 919 from Deshengmen.
Information hotlines: 8119-1168; 8119-1343.

Pinggu County: A World of Ice
This county is particularly famous for its ice-covered mountain slopes and the equally spectacular falls at Jingdong Gorge. There is also a ski slope nearby. Jinhai Lake, Beijing's largest "water wonderland" is completely iced over in Winter, so tourists and other visitors can enjoy skating and -at some spots-fishing through holes in the ice. In villages such as Daxingzhuang, Lezhengwu, Shandongzhuang and Hanzhuang, greenhouses are open to visitors, a main attraction being peach blossoms. The hospitable villagers also like visitors to join them in eating their local foods.
Getting there: To Pinggu Town: Bus No. 918 from Dongzhimen. From there, mini-buses can take visitors to the sites of their choice.
Tel: 8999-1180.

Huairou Winter Tourism Festival
This colorful festival is centered mainly around Jiugukou, which now boasts the new Huaibei International Skiing Ground. The slopes here exceed 3,000m in length. The middle slope is said to be as good as those at Yabuli, acknowledged as China's top skiing center. Popular tourist activities around Jiugukou include visits to Mutianyu Great Wall, and temple fairs at Hongluo Temple, Shentangyu and Lianhuachi.
Getting there: Special tourist trains from Beijing Railway Station and Beijing North Railway Station.
Timetable enquiries: 6965-9647.

Ice Falls at Ten Ferries (Shidu)
The Ten Ferries area is probably better known for its superb landscapes and environment in Summer than for its range of Winter activities. Thus at this time of year, it is still largely waiting to be discovered by cold-weather sports enthusiasts. Local officials are this year promoting the Ten Ferries valley as a "world of ice and snow" where visitors can enjoy no less than eight different activities.
These include ice skating on the river, skiing on wilderness slopes, trying your hand at ice sculpture, and simply viewing the icy landscape and its delightful ice lanterns.
In Fangshan District, visitors can also explore the Stone Flower, Silver Fox and Xianxi caves, go hunting at Puwa and celebrate Chinese New Year at Hancunhe.
Tel: 8935-2764; 8935-6676.

Miyun County Winter Activities
This scenic county is attracting more and more tourists both for its ice and snow landscapes and its increasingly popular hunting grounds. Taoyuanxiangu has a 100-meter-high ice fall, a 1,000m ice-skating course and an attractive skiing area. Hunting enthusiasts can visit the International Hunting Ground at Yunxiugu Scenic Area, located at Xinchengzi Yaoqiaoyu. The 400-ha central hunting ground is an enclosed area, but the surrounding 100sq.k of land is open for the hunting of rabbits and the like.
Tel: 6904-1194