China Tour De Ski is a FIS cross-country skiing competition of Chinese sub-station points race. It is also an annual XC ski travel tour arranged by FIS, CSA(Chinese Ski Association) and Nordic Ways around the New Year’s period in China. At least 40 FIS top 100 skiers together with promising young athletes and China National Ski Team participate in it.
The winter event is an exciting alternative to Tour De Ski in Europe. There are at least three stages in the competition in China every year. It has been held in Xiwuqi (Inner Mongolia), Shangri-La (Yunnan Province), Beijing’s Bird’s Nest and Jingyuetan Park(Changchun city) from 2008 up to now. Xiwuqi in Inner Mongolia has been a host city every year since the start of China Tour de Ski. Sprint distance and medium distance over two days on the wide and snow-covered grasslands of Wuzhumuqin. The place also hosts the Genghis Khan MTB stage race and grassland running marathon in the summer (Yes, they are our events too, visit here to find more information), and it is a center for cross country skiing in the winter. What a wonderful place!
The Shangri-La stage was held in 2008-2010, in a new ski field of Shangri-La natural scenic with its well-known mythical name is located in the breathtaking mountainous landscape of the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous region, where it is up to 3300 meters above sea level.
Finally, according to TDS tradition, the last stage has brought the skiers to Changchun in China’s Northeastern Jilin Province. Vasaloppet China is the classic stage of China Tour de Ski over 52.5km held on a top class track in Jingyuetan Park on 2 January each year. Many happenings take place around the race like Vasa Night New Years Banquet, Ice, Snow and Tourism Festival, Snow Sculptures and so on.
In 2013, for the first time, Vasaloppet China is scheduled to open the China Tour de Ski instead of end it.
The Summer Ski sprint traditionally takes place in the course of June and has seen events in Beijing (indoor!), Changbai Shan and the beautiful natural surroundings of Yakeshi, a ski area near Hulunbeir in the north of Inner Mongolia.
As one of the major international ski events in China, China Tour de Ski has drawn a lot of attention from the media. For example, China Central Television CCTV-5 Sports Channel and CCTV-09 International reports daily from each stage of the event. Hong Kong based Phoenix-TV, Shanghai TV Sports Channel, BTV-Sport and APTN also broadcasts features and news. Xinhua News Agency, Chinas biggest news agency has daily dispatches of news with photos that gets picked up by many other websites and newspapers. The tour was reported by more than 30 newspapers and magazines, including China Daily,China Sports Daily, People’s Daily, etc.
Obviously, this event not only promote the Nordic style cross-country skiing to China, but also made a great contribution in narrowing the gap between Chinese skiers and foreign skiers. Besides, it also allows more skiers and outdoor sports enthusiasts to learn more about cross-country skiing,understand China!