Life improved

Last year, Chongli was removed from a list of poor areas that were key targets of the country's poverty alleviation work.

The flourishing snow business in the district has played an important role in the effort by creating jobs for locals.

Of its 126,000 residents, nearly 24 percent are involved in work related to the ski industry, including ski instructors, cleaners and equipment leasers.

Additionally, an increasing amount of talent with ties to the industry or with knowledge of management or tourism development are coming into the district.

Cao Wen, a resident of Yaoziwan village, has witnessed the whole process of the snow industry's emergence and has benefited from it. He was one of the earliest instructors that Saibei Ski Resort nurtured in the 1990s.

"At the time, no instructor from outside wanted to come to our poor county, so the ski resort picked up a dozen local young farmers and taught us how to ski," recalled Cao, 57.

After about a month, he became a training partner and then a formal coach.

"Back then, I could earn about 500 yuan a month, a high income at the time in our county," he said.

With more and more tourists coming to Chongli to ski, Cao saw a business opportunity. He quit his coaching job and opened a family guest-house in his village in 2001.Eight years later, he opened a shop in downtown Chongli leasing ski equipment.

"Most of my family members are together running the shop," Cao said, adding they were earning about 300,000 yuan each year from the leasing business before the COVID-19 outbreak this year.

Now he is planning to do something else since skiers increasingly have started to buy their own equipment. In addition, such leasing shops have increased in the past few years, boosting competition and affecting his business.

"The snow business is developing and also changing, so it's time for me to figure out another way to get my share of the pie," Cao said.