People ski at Wanda's world's largest indoor ski resort during the opening of the resort in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, north-eastern China. Wu Hong : EPA
People ski at Wanda's world's largest indoor ski resort during the opening of the resort in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, north-eastern China. Wu Hong : EPA
People ski at Wanda's world's largest indoor ski resort during the opening of the resort in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, north-eastern China. Wu Hong : EPA
People ski at Wanda's world's largest indoor ski resort during the opening of the resort in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, north-eastern China. Wu Hong : EPA

China outlines winter sport ambitions with world's biggest indoor ski resort


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The world's biggest indoor ski resort has arrived but, for once, it is not a claim to fame that Dubai can make.

The super-cool new facility is situated within a mega-development in the northern Chinese city of Harbin.

The huge resort that includes the ski slopes was the brainchild of China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, who surprised many by this week selling most of his mammoth leisure and amusement business for US$9.3 billion just 10 days after the Harbin development opened. While the deal involved 13 cultural tourism projects and 76 hotels within Mr Wang's Dalian Wanda Group's tourism portfolio, which have been bought by the Tianjin-based property developer Sunac, it is not yet clear if the property handover will include the Harbin ski resort.

The resort is part of China's ambitious plans to develop both top-notch skiing facilities and world-class skiers ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Zhangjiakou, near Beijing. Several other ski resorts are being built all over China by a number of developers and the government is pushing for the creation of many more to meet its target of creating 240 dedicated ski slopes before the Winter Olympics.

Harbin, the provincial capital of Heileogong, which borders Russia, is renowned or the creation of building-sized ice sculptures that depict the world's landmarks and heritage sites, such as the Taj Mahal, during the International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival every year.

“Harbin is known as the city of ice, which also happens to be the main theme of this resort, so we will together provide winter sports throughout the year,” Mr Wang said at the opening ceremony at the end of last month. Last year, he announced plans to build the world's highest ski resort in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

Mr Wang is trying to tap a booming theme park and sports market in China that, according to the industry consultancy Aecom, will overtake the United States in terms of market size by 2020. It estimated that 59 new theme parks will open in China by 2020, serving an estimated 220 million visitors. Globally, the major theme park operators continued their positive performance last year, with a 4.3 per cent increase in overall business volume growing from 420 million to 438 million annual attendees over the year, according to the latest annual report from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and the Economics practice at Aecom.

Dalian Wanda Group has built five other theme parks to expand its leisure and entertainment business in the face of stiff competition from Disneyland and Universal Studios. In June last year, Disneyland opened in Shanghai – its second park in China after its first opened in Hong Kong.

The Harbin resort covers 80 hectares and is located within the $6bn Harbin Wanda City. Shaped like an enormous grand piano, the indoor ski stadium can accommodate up to 3,000 skiers and snowboarders.

The resort also includes an outdoor Wanda theme park, Wanda movie park, central grand theatre, high-end holiday hotels and commercial centres. A 15,000 square metre snow entertainment area is inside the ski resort and the main skiing area itself is 80,000 square metres with six different runs on three separate levels.

The resort's main run is 60 metres wide and 500 metres long, making it the fourth-longest indoor run in the world. It still pales alongside Dubai's main run, which is the world's longest at 1.2 kilometres. The Chinese facility also boasts two black runs for the most proficient skiers and snowboarders, a blue run, a snow play area. There are also two 40-metre beginner slopes.

The Harbin ski facility is expecting 400,000 visitors by the end of 2017 and the resort will hire up to 30,000 people when it is fully completed, Mr Wang says.

North-eastern China already has several open-air  ski resorts, which includes Yabuli, about 180km from Harbin, which had hosted the Winter Asian Games as early as 1996. Wanda group also operates a ski resort at Changbaishan in nearby Jilin province.

While Dalian Wanda tries to be different from Disneyland by including a wider range of resort facilities such as schools, for instance, it has not been able to match the US company in terms of investment. In a bid to counter the US firm's strength, Wanda Group recently hired Andrew Kam, a former executive at Hong Kong Disneyland, to be the vice president of Wanda Culture Industry Group.

"Harbin is a brand-new community that includes not only a theme park, but also a school, a hospital, housing and hotels," Mr Kam says. " There is nothing like this before."

It was China's drive to build skiing facilities and the country's growing interest in the sport that attracted the Warren Smith Ski Academy, which became the first British ski school to open shop in the country last winter, at the resort of Wanlong in Hebei province.

“It’s almost as if winning the 2022 Winter Olympics bid has put skiers in China into panic mode – they really want to get better at skiing, and fast,” says the ski school founder Warren Smith. "We want to grow our presence [in China] in the future."

Despite the sudden push for all things snowy, north-eastern already China has several traditional open-air ski resorts including Yabuli, about 180km away from Harbin, and Changbaishan, which is located in the nearby Jilin province. But Dalian Wanda decided to invest in an indoor facility, in part because that way premium snow conditions are guaranteed year-round.

Ticket pricing at Wanda's Harbin resort, which includes rides in the amusement part, are structured differently to Shanghai's Disneyland, which charges 370 yuan (Dh198) during low season and 499 yuan during peak season. Wanda's lowest price starts at 68 yuan for an adult for a two-hour tour of the snow castle for an adult and goes up to 488 yuan for unlimited use of the ski slope.

Wanda has also invested in similar multi-purpose resorts in Nanchang and Hefei, the capital of Hefei province. It recently announced plans to establish Wanda Cities in second-tier cities, including Chengdu, Wuxi, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Haikou, Urumqi and Xiamen. These are part of a larger plan to develop as many as 20 Wanda Cities nationwide by 2020. The idea is to make the most of the booming leisure and tourism market in China. The state-run China national tourism administration expects will grow to 10 trillion yuan by 2020.

Mr Kam points out that Wanda City resorts in Hefei and Nanchang each attracted about 1 million visitors during the national day holiday alone last October.

So with the vast potential of snow resorts in China allied to the state's determination to have Chinese skiers and snowboarders among the medals in five years, it seems the ski resort market there is only set to heat up.

RESULTS

Women:

55kg brown-black belt: Amal Amjahid (BEL) bt Amanda Monteiro (BRA) via choke
62kg brown-black belt: Bianca Basilio (BRA) bt Ffion Davies (GBR) via referee’s decision (0-0, 2-2 adv)
70kg brown-black belt: Ana Carolina Vieira (BRA) bt Jessica Swanson (USA), 9-0
90kg brown-black belt: Angelica Galvao (USA) bt Marta Szarecka (POL) 8-2

Men:

62kg black belt: Joao Miyao (BRA) bt Wan Ki-chae (KOR), 7-2
69kg black belt: Paulo Miyao (BRA) bt Gianni Grippo (USA), 2-2 (1-0 adv)
77kg black belt: Espen Mathiesen (NOR) bt Jake Mackenzie (CAN)
85kg black belt: Isaque Braz (BRA) bt Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE), 2-0
94kg black belt: Felipe Pena (BRA) bt Adam Wardzinski (POL), 4-0
110kg black belt final: Erberth Santos (BRA) bt Lucio Rodrigues (GBR) via rear naked choke

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
One in nine do not have enough to eat

Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.

One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.

The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.

Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.

It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.

On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.

Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.

 

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League, last-16 second leg
Paris Saint-Germain (1) v Borussia Dortmund (2)
Kick-off: Midnight, Thursday, March 12
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SPECS

Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR

Engine: 5.7-litre V8

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 362hp

Torque: 530Nm

Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
  • Flexible work arrangements
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  • Mental well-being assistance
  • Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
  • Financial well-being incentives 
The biog

Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia

Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins

Favourite dish: Grilled fish

Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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  • Animals
  • Fireworks/ flares
  • Radios or power banks
  • Laser pointers
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