Location:
250 km south-east of Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
1400 km north-east of Beijing
Google map:
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Nearest Airports: Harbin (HRB) or Mudanjiang (MDG, less connections, but closer to Yabuli)
Transportation:
Several trains depart from Harbin main train station to the new Yabuli South train station near the resort. The train tracks split before Yabuli Town and Yabuli South is a terminus station. Alternatively many more trains go to or pass by Yabuli Town, which is 30 min away from the resort. Tickets cost between 20-50 RMB but choose the train and class wisely or you end up standing for 4 hours.
A taxi from Yabuli Town to the resort should cost between 50-100 RMB, depending on your bargaining skills. From the airport to Harbin train station we paid 140 RMB.
A better option is to arrange the airport transfer with the Club Med, it cost around 450 RMB one way and should be available around weekends. To take a taxi all the way may be even more expensive but not as reliable.
Ski Resort:
Low altitude, north-east facing slopes, gondola bottom 470 m, gondola top 1000 m
Easy to intermediate slopes, some advanced, depending on the grooming. Relatively thin layer of artificial snow topped off with occasional snowfall. Therefore little powder and no base off-piste to protect from the ground. Some slopes are closed and don’t have enough snow on the bottom. Forests are very dense and with underbrush, therefore very limited freeriding potential.
Small fun park with some jumps, no halfpipe, but large beginners slopes with magic carpets.
Good overview on this ski resort on the website of chinaskitours.com
Accomodation:
Don’t waste your time and book a package at the Club Med Sun Mountain Resort. You won’t regret it. The rooms are great, the food is great, the staff is great. The ski rental and locker rooms are just downstairs, the deals are including lift tickets and all food and drinks. They have a nice bar to relax, their buffet has the best bread north of Beijing and there are no other dining option around in Yabuli anyway.
The ski rental is not included, it cost an extra 380 RMB per day, but make sure you get the lift ticket from the hotel. The walk in price for a day ticket is 700 RMB! The hotel will get it for half the price. The ski ticket and rental hall is not run by the Club Med, but their staff will help you if you run in any trouble. There is also ski clothing and helmets for rent and a small repair corner which can brush up your ski if you cached too many stones on the slopes.
I also stayed 2 nights at the Windmill Inn further down the road, but even at a quarter of the price of Club Med it’s not worth the money. It serves partly as staff quarters for Club Med, so it has a frequent shuttle bus up to the gondola, but the good points stop here. The cold restaurant doesn’t see many guests, the rooms are just ok, hot water is a lucky coincidence and you spend half of your stay just to get things organized. Just forget it.
There are other hotels around the ski resort, but most are government run bunkers for cadres or tour groups, overly expensive and with no real value. The Broadcast Hotel is at least close to the B-area chairlift but didn’t look very inviting. Consider them as emergency option and don’t expect anyone speaking English there.
