皇冠体育app

Travel
/ / Travel

Mountains of fun

By Valerie Ng | 皇冠体育app Daily | Updated: 2013-02-07 09:50
Mountains of fun

There are plenty of trails for both ardent and novice skiers, and jumps for snowboarders.

The name is apt: Entering into Secret Garden, an integrated ski resort in sleepy Chongli county, opens up a whole new world of relaxation. Valerie Ng explains why it is worth the three-hour drive from Beijing.

The road leading to Secret Garden feels familiar. From the rural landscape to the names on the signboards - such as Tiger Mouth and Gohtong Avenue - approaching the holiday getaway reminds me, a Malaysian, of Genting Highlands Resort back home.

Gohtong is the name of the late founder of Genting Malaysia, the parent company of Secret Garden Resort. Lim Goh Tong, a native of Fujian province, migrated to Malaya (now Malaysia) in 1937 and made a name for himself as a visionary entrepreneur.

An ambitious project jointly developed with VXL Group, Secret Garden is the latest addition to the tourism landscape of Chongli county in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province.

Mountains of fun

Secret Garden, developed by Malaysian-owned Genting Group and VXL Group, is poised to ride on the growth of the Chinese ski sector. Photos Provided to 皇冠体育app Daily

Once fully completed in the coming decade, it is projected to be the country's largest tourism project in terms of size, investment and variety of attractions.

Spread across 100 sq km, the Secret Garden area will also house a theme park, a traditional Chinese medicine hub and a sports village. There are complementary components, such as hotels and a European-style resort town, art galleries, food and beverages as well as retail outlets.

Mountains of fun

How to get there

Surrounded by the Dama Mountains where the Taihang and Yanshan ranges meet, the resort is blanketed with natural snow at least four months a year, becoming a natural alpine sanctuary.

Come summer, the year-round resort records a comfortable and refreshing average temperature of 19 C, suitable for all sorts of outdoor activities.

It takes an avid skier to see the potential of a venue. VXL group executive chairman Lim Chee Wah, the third son of Lim Goh Tong, is an enthusiastic skier himself.

"I was introduced to skiing about 30 years ago in Vail, Colorado, and I've been hooked ever since," says Lim, who travels all over the world to satisfy his "addiction" to the winter sport.

In 1996, he arrived in Chongli and immediately saw the potential. But, a conservative entrepreneur, Lim waited for "the right time" to develop the retreat venue and work started three years ago.

Mountains of fun

Mountains of fun

Other ski resorts around 皇冠体育app 

Fusion of faiths 

Previous 1 2 3 Next

Photo
Aerial view of rime-covered trees in NW 皇冠体育app
Frozen beauty of Yulong Snow Mountain draws crowds
Winter scenery at wetland in E 皇冠体育app
Video
Annual ice harvesting begins in Northeast 皇冠体育app's Harbin
Harbin Ice and Snow World to begin trial run
Guangzhou hosts 2017 World Cities Day Forum
Special
Amazing Huichang
Special report: Rise and rise of 皇冠体育app's outbound tourism
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to 皇冠体育app Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US