A new indoor ski resort located an hour from Shanghai in China has proven so successful in its first six months of operations that the company behind it, Club Med’s owners Fosun, have announced construction of “phase 2”. This will include the world’s longest indoor snow run yet, it’s biggest indoor vertical (the first to exceed 100m) and the new and existing indoor snow slopes will together offer the largest area of indoor snow anywhere on the planet.
Taicang Alps Resort, located in Taicang, Suzhou, adjacent to the Jiading District of Shanghai, which is just an hour’s drive from downtown Shanghai, opened in Autum last year and has already recorded a third-of-a-million skier visits. The resort spans over an area of one square kilometre with a total construction area of about 1.3 million square meters and features a Club Med hotel.
Phase II of the development will see the local municipal government invest over 5 billion yuan (£540m) to create a larger indoor snow slope with a 590m main run and a 110m vertical drop. The current longest slopes are in France and Germany, both a little over 600 metres in length. There have been plans over the years to create indoors now slopes up to a kilometre long, mostly in the Middle East, but so far none has actually been built.
China has already built centres with much more indoor snow area than any other centres ion the world, just with not quite so long main slopes so far. With a total indoor snow area of approximately 190,000 square metres though, Taicang Alps Resort will be nearly three times the size of the current largest centre in Harbin to the north.
Signing Ceremony for Phase II of Taicang Alps Resort
“In recent years, Taicang has forged a strong partnership with Fosun International to develop the largest indoor ski resort in East China. The launch of the Taicang Alps Resort has been a resounding success, quickly establishing itself as a leading ice and snow tourism destination in the Yangtze River Delta. It has received frequent praise on Chinese television, substantially increasing Taicang’s fame and attracting a surge in visitors. Ice and snow tourism is an emerging sector within the travel industry,” commented Vice Secretary of Taicang Municipal Committee and the mayor, Xu Huadong, who added, “This initiative will elevate the city’s status as a key hub for the ice and snow industry and strategically develop a comprehensive tourism plan. Our vision is to transform Taicang into a captivating leisure destination where every location offers picturesque views, convenience, and memorable experiences.”
The centre’s design has been inspired by “Xiangyun Ruyi” (Auspicious Clouds), it echoes the “Snow Ruyi” of the Beijing Winter Olympics’ Zhangjiakou outdoor ski resorts.
The new snow area will feature three slopes: a freestyle slope, an intermediate slope, and an advanced slope. With the original building, altogether there’ll be a total combined slope length of 1,700 m (over a mile).
In addition, the Phase II project will include snow-view hotels and themed hotels, offering a variety of themed rooms to create an immersive accommodation experience. The resort will also feature a comprehensive range of facilities, including a water park, hot springs, an aquarium and activities including bungee jumping and interactive light shows. A target completion date for Phase 2 has not yet been announced.
Besides its new indoor ski resort, Club Med operates 28 outdoor ski resorts worldwide, including in the Alps, Japan’s Hokkaido and Quebec in Canada and three in China.