The Beijing 2022 alpine venue on Xiaohaituo mountain, open to the public. Which zones you can reach, the Olympic downhill, the bus from Beijing, and how it compares with Genting.
The National Alpine Skiing Centre goes by the nickname Snow Flying Swallow. It sits on Xiaohaituo mountain in Yanqing district, at the north-western edge of Beijing municipality, and it staged the alpine skiing events of the 2022 Winter Olympics. It has since opened to paying visitors, and the Olympic downhill itself has been public since the 2024-25 season. For a wider read on which Beijing 2022 venues you can ski today, see our post on the Olympic venues.
What you are buying is a race mountain open to paying visitors. The terrain meets a standard most recreational hills never attempt, and the ticketing and transport were built around race operations rather than around a weekend skier with a board bag.
Published figures for the summit height and vertical drop vary from source to source, so we do not quote a single number here. Part of the reason is that the Olympic build put the race finish well below the public day lodge, so the figure depends on which base someone counts. What matters on the day is simpler: ask at the ticket office how high your zone reaches. A zone topping out at a mid-mountain lift station is a very different day from the full centre.
Competition trails open in phases through the season as racers need them, so the map handed over at the gate can show more terrain than you get to ski. Closures go up on the venue's WeChat account, and season dates are on our opening dates page.
| Zone or trail | What it is | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| Public experience area | Beginner zone, expanded for 2025-26 | Balance and a brake |
| Piste above the base | Groomed intermediate alpine terrain | Linked turns on a moderate pitch |
| Ruixue Avenue | The Olympic downhill, public since 2024-25, steepest section 64% | Solid advanced skiing |
| Competition trails | Race terrain, opened in phases through the season | Check access before planning around it |
This is a hill for confident intermediates and strong advanced skiers. If it is your first time on snow, you will have a better day somewhere gentler, and it is better to know that before you spend a long bus ride finding out.
The unusual part is the terrain itself. It is race terrain: groomed to a standard, laid out on the fall line, prepared for a course inspection rather than a lazy afternoon. That suits you if this is your kind of skiing. Long wandering cruisers are somewhere else, and all skiing here stays on the marked, open pistes.
This is the question snowboarders ask most about the Olympic venues. Yanqing staged alpine skiing, not freestyle or snowboard. There is no Olympic park here to ride, and the piste system is cut for skis.
A confident rider will still enjoy it. Long top-to-bottom carves on a mountain this size are a good day on a snowboard. If you want rails, boxes and a halfpipe, give the trip to Genting in Chongli instead. It is reached from Beijing, not from Yanqing: the high-speed train from Beijing North or Qinghe takes about an hour to Taizicheng, then a free shuttle runs to the base, and the 2022 halfpipe and slopestyle venue is still in use. Our guide to the best terrain parks in China covers the options.
The winter public route is a direct bus organised by Beijing's municipal government, and Guomao and Liujiayao were the two stops published for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. Allow a couple of hours each way, depending on traffic and weather. Two things catch people out: ski racks are limited, so bringing your own board works against you, and ride-hailing back into the city in the evening is unreliable. Plan on the last resort bus even when a car seems easy to find.
Badaling Great Wall station on the Beijing to Zhangjiakou high-speed line is also in Yanqing district, but it is a long way from Xiaohaituo and we found no published onward transfer from the station to the venue, so for this mountain the bus is the practical choice. If you are combining Yanqing with Chongli and carrying your own skis on the train, check the 12306 rules and book the snow-gear service where it is offered; our guide to the snow-gear service has the booking steps.
The 2025-26 season opened on 22 November, and late November is the usual start. Tickets are sold by zone, from the public experience area up to the full centre. Check the venue's WeChat mini-program for how and where to buy that week, since the arrangements have changed between seasons.
We could not verify a published adult price for 2025-26, so treat any figure you find as unconfirmed until you check the venue's official channels yourself before you travel. Check which zone reaches the top, whether the downhill is open, and what the ticket costs that week.
| Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre | Genting Secret Garden | |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic sport in 2022 | Alpine skiing | Freestyle and snowboard (big air was at Shougang in Beijing) |
| Vertical | Much larger; published figures vary by source | 398 m |
| Runs | Zones plus competition trails that open in phases | More than 30 trails plus park courses |
| For riders | Race pistes, no Olympic park | Halfpipe, slopestyle and park terrain |
| Night skiing | Not confirmed | Yes, 18:30 to 21:30 in 2025-26 |
| Getting there | Direct bus from Guomao or Liujiayao | High-speed train from Beijing to Taizicheng, about 1 hour, free shuttle |
Genting is the fun park. Yanqing is the Olympic downhill. With one trip, the deciding question is what you want to say you did.
If you ride, or you want three full days on a single mountain you can lap, Genting wins and the Genting guide has the detail. If you ski confidently, few places let you stand on the start of an Olympic downhill for the price of a lift ticket, and Yanqing puts that within a day trip of central Beijing.
For a first or last day, Badaling in the same district is the gentle option: 72 m of vertical, mostly beginner terrain. Our Beijing day trip guide compares the smaller hills.
Can you ski the Olympic downhill at Yanqing? Yes. Ruixue Avenue, the Olympic downhill course, has been public since the 2024-25 season, and its steepest section reaches a 64% gradient. Race training days close it a handful of times each season.
How tall is the mountain? Published summit and vertical figures vary by source, partly because the race finish sits well below the public day lodge. Ask at the ticket office how high your zone reaches.
How do I get there from central Beijing? By the direct winter bus from Guomao or Liujiayao; allow a couple of hours each way. Badaling Great Wall station is in the same district but far from the venue, with no published onward transfer.
Is it worth it for a snowboarder? For long carves, yes. For park riding, no. Yanqing staged alpine skiing rather than snowboard, so there is no Olympic park here. Riders usually head to Genting in Chongli, about an hour from Beijing by high-speed train to Taizicheng.