What's on in Chongli, China through the year

Peak crowds — Spring Festival holiday, Ski season

• Holiday

  Spring Festival holiday

  20 Jan – 25 Feb · usuallyLunar New YearCrowdedBook early

  The lunar new year week is the busiest ski week of the winter: Beijing families fill the slopes, lift queues lengthen and hotel rates jump. Trains from the capital sell out well ahead. Source ↗

Still on: Ski season (15 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Spring Festival holiday, Ski season

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Spring Festival holiday (20 Jan – 25 Feb (usually)), Ski season (15 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Ski season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Ski season (15 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Closure

  Between seasons

  1–30 Apr · usually

  The lifts stop for skiing by early April and the summer programme does not start until May, so the resort villages are at their quietest, with many services shut or scaled back. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Opening

  Summer mountain season

  1 May – 15 Oct · usuallySummer season opens

  From May the resorts reopen for the cool months: lift-served downhill biking at Thaiwoo, hiking trails through birch and larch, concerts and trail races. Summer visitor numbers now rival winter. Source ↗

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Summer mountain season (1 May – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Chongli 168 Ultra Trail, Summer break in China

• Festival

  Chongli 168 Ultra Trail

  10–12 JulSporting eventCrowdedBook early

  China's long-running mountain ultra, first held in 2011, sends thousands of runners over the summer grass ridges above the ski resorts. It is the one weekend the town fills out of the snow season. Source ↗

Still on: Summer mountain season (1 May – 15 Oct (usually))

Busy — Summer break in China, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Summer mountain season (1 May – 15 Oct (usually)), Chongli 168 Ultra Trail (10–12 Jul)

Busy — Birch forest autumn colour, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Birch forest autumn colour

  10 Sep – 10 Oct · usuallyCrowded

  Birch and larch on the slopes turn gold from mid-September, peaking around the start of October along the Grassland Sky Road. The 1 October holiday week brings heavy traffic, so go before it if you can.

Still on: Summer mountain season (1 May – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Birch forest autumn colour, National Day Golden Week in China

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Summer mountain season (1 May – 15 Oct (usually)), Birch forest autumn colour (10 Sep – 10 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Ski season, FIS freestyle World Cup, Genting

• Season

  Ski season

  15 Nov – 31 Mar · usuallyCrowded

  Chongli's resorts, Wanlong, Thaiwoo and Genting among them, open on machine-made snow from November and some start even earlier. The high-speed train from Beijing makes weekends far busier than weekdays. Source ↗

• Festival

  FIS freestyle World Cup, Genting

  25 Nov – 20 Dec · usuallySporting eventCrowded

  The Olympic halfpipe and big-air venues at Genting Snow Park host FIS freeski and snowboard World Cup rounds early in the season. Parts of the park close to the public on competition days. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Ski season, FIS freestyle World Cup, Genting

• Festival

  China Chongli International Ski Festival

  15–31 Dec · usuallySporting eventCrowded

  Opens with a ceremony in the second half of December and frames the whole winter, running to the end of March with races and amateur events at the resorts. Opening weekend is when the town feels busiest before the holidays. Source ↗

Still on: Ski season (15 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), FIS freestyle World Cup, Genting (25 Nov – 20 Dec (usually))