Five Beijing-area resorts compared for terrain, access without a car, and when Chongli is the better call: Nanshan, Jundushan, Huaibei, Yuyang and Badaling.
Most weekends during the ski season, Beijing skiers face a familiar choice: drive two to three hours north to Chongli for a real mountain weekend, or stay close to the city for shorter days on the smaller local hills. The local hills have advantages the bigger resorts cannot match: travel times under two hours each way, cheaper tickets, less crowded lifts, and a chance to ski an afternoon or evening session without taking a full day off. For families with first-time skiers, or for anyone who wants to mix skiing with a working trip or a Beijing city itinerary, the local hills are the practical choice.
This post compares five Beijing-area resorts you can reach without a car: Nanshan, Jundushan, Huaibei, Yuyang and Badaling. For the bigger mountains, our Chongli guide covers the rest. Each hill has its own page, and if you want the most terrain of the five, start with Nanshan.
Distances in the table are straight-line from central Beijing unless marked as a road distance; the text sometimes quotes the resorts' own road-distance figures, which can differ. Terrain splits come from the resorts; three did not publish run counts.
| Resort | District | Distance | Vertical | Terrain | Lifts | Runs | Without a car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jundushan | Changping | 37 km straight line | 247 m | 7 runs, mostly beginner | 3 | 7 | shuttle, ride-hail |
| Nanshan | Miyun | 61 km straight line | 181 m | 53/36/11 beginner/intermediate/advanced | 9 | 30 | high-speed train plus 3 km, shuttle, ride-hail |
| Huaibei | Huairou | 64 km straight line | 154 m | 31/69/0 | 3 | not published | bus, ride-hail |
| Badaling | Yanqing | 63 km straight line | 72 m | 75/25/0, beginner only | 7 | not published | bus plus ride-hail |
| Yuyang | Pinggu | 79 km by road | 248 m | 50/25/25 | 10 | not published | longer ride-hail, bus |
Huaibei has no advanced runs at all, and Badaling's 72 m of vertical is small. Nanshan, Jundushan and Yuyang are the three realistic picks for an intermediate or stronger skier. None of the five comes close to Chongli for vertical, and if that is what you are after, our weekend Chongli guide spells out the trade-off.
Jundushan sits in Changping, north-west of central Beijing (the resort gives about 30 km from the centre), at the foot of the Jundu Mountains west of the Ming Tombs reservoir. The site has three lifts, seven runs with a longest run of about 1.2 km, and a snow-play area for beginners. Vertical is 247 m. In 2025-26 it ran day sessions 08:00 to 18:00 and night skiing 17:00 to 22:00.
There is no direct train. A taxi or ride-hail (DiDi) from central Beijing is the simple option, and some seasons the resort has also run weekend buses from the city; check its WeChat mini-program for current services. Tickets go through the resort website, its WeChat mini-program or Trip.com, with discounts on the Chinese apps.
For families, Jundushan has beginner carpets, and its longer runs give intermediates a stepping stone before heading north. Night skiing to 22:00 lets you fit skiing around a busy Beijing itinerary.
Nanshan in Miyun has 30 runs across 181 m of vertical, nine lifts and three quad chairs, a terrain park, and night skiing on several evenings a week. Its position next to Miyun station on the Beijing–Harbin high-speed line is the strongest transport point of the five: the train from Beijing Chaoyang reaches Miyun in about 30 minutes, leaving a 3 km ride-hail or shuttle at the other end.
The resort lists a through-bus with stops at Sanyuanqiao, Wudaokou and Ciqikou, and in 2025-26 a 58 CNY return shuttle ran from city stops. Fares and timetables change each season, so check the WeChat mini-program first. Drivers get more than 1,500 free parking spaces.
Note that Miyun is not on the Chongli line. Chongli trains run on the Beijing–Zhangjiakou high-speed railway from Beijing North or Qinghe to Taizicheng, so Nanshan and Chongli are separate trips rather than one journey.
All three sit under 80 km from central Beijing. None has a train station, so getting there means a bus plus a short ride-hail, or a ride-hail straight from a suburban interchange.
Huaibei International Ski Resort, in Huairou near the Great Wall at Mutianyu, has roughly 4.5 km of beginner and intermediate runs across 154 m of vertical. Its terrain split is 31% beginner, 69% intermediate and 0% advanced, so it suits families and intermediates only. There is no dedicated shuttle; a short ride-hail from Huairou town is the usual way in.
Badaling Ski Resort sits beside the famous Badaling section of the Great Wall and is the most beginner-oriented of the five: 75% beginner, 25% intermediate, 0% advanced, 72 m of vertical and about 2 km of runs. It suits first-timers, school groups and families who want a taste of snow without travelling far. Night skiing is available, and Badaling town, 3 km away, has frequent buses from Deshengmen in central Beijing; ride-hailing in the Yanqing area is cheap.
Yuyang International Ski Resort, in Pinggu district about 79 km east of central Beijing by road, is the most varied of the local five. It has ten lifts, 248 m of vertical, a terrain split of roughly 50/25/25 across beginner, intermediate and advanced, plus a children's play area and a snow park. It is the best Beijing-area day trip for stronger skiers who would rather not make the Chongli run.
The catch with Yuyang is distance. A ride-hail from the city centre is a long and comparatively expensive trip, and winter weekend mornings add traffic on top. Staying in Pinggu or driving in keeps it manageable; otherwise fold Yuyang into a weekend loop rather than treating it as an after-work trip.
Pick Chongli if you want more than a day's worth of terrain, if you want the roughly 400 to 550 m of vertical at Wanlong, Genting or Thaiwoo, or if you want to add an overnight to a Beijing trip. High-speed trains from Beijing North or Qinghe run on the Beijing–Zhangjiakou line to Taizicheng in about an hour, and shuttle buses take you from there to the bigger resorts. A two-day Chongli weekend is laid out in our weekend ski trip post. The trade-off is straightforward: you swap a small day trip for a proper ski weekend.
So: the five hills above for short, cheap, after-work sessions and half-day family days; Chongli for a weekend on real terrain.
Which Beijing hills are easiest without a car? Nanshan is easiest, because the high-speed train reaches Miyun, 3 km from the resort, in about 30 minutes. Jundushan is closest by road but has no direct rail service.
Are any of them worth it for a strong skier? Yuyang, Jundushan and Nanshan all have some steeper runs, but the verticals are under 250 m each. Real advanced terrain is in Chongli, about an hour north by train.
When do the Beijing hills open for 2026-27? No Beijing resort had confirmed its 2026-27 opening date when we checked on 20 October 2026. Most opened in late November or early December in 2025-26, and resort mini-programs post updates first.