Chinese New Year falls on Saturday 6 February 2027. China ski resorts charge peak prices over the Spring Festival holiday and trains fill early. How to plan around the rush.
Chinese New Year, the Spring Festival, falls on Saturday 6 February 2027. The other date everyone quotes is Chinese New Year's Eve, Friday 5 February 2027, the night families gather for the reunion dinner. For a ski holiday, neither single day is the one to plan around: what matters is the official Spring Festival public holiday, which lasts roughly a week. In 2025 it ran from 28 January to 4 February. The 2027 official holiday dates are set by the State Council and are usually announced late in the previous year, so treat any 2027 window you see online as provisional until it is confirmed, and check our opening dates page nearer the time.
The peak at Chongli and the Beijing hills is the holiday week itself, plus the weekends either side. In practice, crowds build in the days before the holiday, the busiest days fall in the first half of the holiday, and the mountain starts to feel normal again a few days after it ends. If you are flying in from abroad, treat the period from a few days before New Year's Eve until the holiday's last day as the danger zone.
Chinese resorts price on a holiday calendar, and New Year (1 to 3 January) and the Spring Festival carry the highest ticket prices of the season. For a sense of scale, our Chongli data shows 2025-26 rack day tickets at Thaiwoo, Genting and Wanlong ranging from 443 yuan (Thaiwoo weekday) to 800 yuan (Wanlong holiday), with official-channel discounts often close to half. At roughly 6.7 CNY per USD, that is about 66 USD for a cheap weekday against about 119 USD for a holiday day.
Expect the same pattern around 6 February 2027. The multiple is the point: a holiday day can cost close to twice a quiet weekday. The Chongli page shows the recent price ladder.
2026-27 prices had not been published when we checked in October, so look up each resort's current holiday band on its official WeChat channel or mini-program before booking.
For a holiday-week trip, book the room as early as you can, then lock in lessons and train tickets as soon as each goes on sale.
New Year's Day (1 to 3 January) is the first holiday peak of the season. Crowds are real but shorter-lived than the Spring Festival, roughly a long weekend.
In Xinjiang, Altay's primary and secondary schools have a snow holiday from 16 to 18 December 2026, which with the weekend gives a five-day block. During the 2025 snow holiday, which fell in late November and early December that year, Altay's four resorts recorded more than 150,000 visits. If you want quiet slopes at Koktokay, Jikepulin or Jiangjunshan, avoid that week as well as New Year.
Altay is very cold all winter: January is the coldest month, with an average low of -20.9°C in Altay city, and December is not far behind. People who want Altay's snow without the December and New Year crowds tend to come in late January or the first half of February, when natural snow is deep and the local school holiday is over.
Every row below needs rechecking against the 2027 official holiday when it is published. Treat it as a planning shape, not a confirmed schedule.
| Window around CNY 2027 | What is happening | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 25 to Sun 31 January 2027 | Last quiet week before the rush | Good for early bookers |
| Mon 1 to Thu 4 February 2027 | Pre-holiday travel builds; prices start to rise | Avoid if flexible; buy trains the day sales open |
| From Fri 5 February 2027 (New Year's Eve), for roughly a week | Spring Festival holiday (official dates not yet published) | Peak pricing and queues; book well ahead or skip |
| The days after the official holiday ends | Holiday tail; crowds and prices ease | Strong alternative window |
| Late February to mid-March 2027 | Late season, softer Chongli snow | Usually the best value; ski mornings and groomers |
If your dates are fixed to the 2027 holiday and you cannot move them:
If your dates can move, aim for the week after the official holiday ends, once the State Council has confirmed it. The mountain is past its first-week crush, the holiday trains have cleared out, and you still have weeks of season left. For deep, dry snow and quieter queues, Jikepulin at Hemu in Xinjiang is the underrated call in the second half of February.
Our budget guide lays out a Chongli week in CNY and USD, and our common-mistakes post covers what goes wrong for first-time visitors.
Is Chinese New Year a good week to ski in China? Resorts stay open and conditions are often good, but it is one of the most expensive and crowded weeks of the season. Pick your base carefully and book well ahead if your dates are fixed. Move to the week after the holiday if you can.
When do trains and rooms sell out? Resort hotels go first, often many weeks ahead for the Spring Festival. Beijing-Chongli trains around the holiday can sell out soon after sales open, fifteen days before departure.
Are prices really twice the usual? Close to it. In 2025-26 Chongli rack day tickets ran from 443 yuan on a Thaiwoo weekday to 800 yuan on a Wanlong holiday day. Expect a similar pattern in 2027, and confirm on the resort's WeChat before booking.
What if my family only has the holiday week off? Book rooms as early as possible, trains the day sales open, and lessons when you book the room. Ski early or late in the day and budget for the holiday price band. You will still pay peak, but you can still have a good week if you plan it well.