Do Chinese people like skiing?

When we talk about “national sports” of China, the first things that come to mind are Ping Pong (table tennis) and badminton. Skiing is quite an unconventional sport, and also one that has quite a high bar for most Chinese. Not only because of limitations in the natural climate and thus restrictions in the venues, but also that it is considered an extreme sport in China, which doesn’t help with its popularization. However, the 2022 Winter Olympics has piqued the interest of many. More people are thus willing to try out skiing.

Number of skiing resorts have grown exponentially to 770 because of the surge of interest. As the ski season approached, many have been tempted to try out skiing and posting skiing videos on social media as a new trend. Young people are especially drawn to try out this exciting and “dangerous” sport. However, survey also shows that out of all the people that ski, 72% try out skiing once, dipped their toes in the water, but did not continue with it. Posting about skiing has become more of a “social peacocking” behavior for the majority of Chinese people, rather than a long term commitment to the sport.

提起中国的国民运动，大家都会想到乒乓球、羽毛球。 滑雪对大部分中国人来说是一个门槛极高的运动，不仅受气候和场地的限制，它的危险系数也不利于普及。而这次冬奥会的申办成功让更多人对滑雪产生了兴趣，并愿意去尝试。滑雪场的数量因此如雨后春笋般增加到了770个。雪季的到来让不少人在自己的社交媒体上炫耀自己的滑雪视频， 这也吸引了更多年轻人去尝试这项高危而刺激的运动。而据有关调查显示，在滑雪的人中，72%的人只体验了一次以后就没再继续了。 滑雪在中国人眼中更像是一种社交货币，“今年你滑雪了吗？”