The enormous curved, gleaming silver building resembles a spaceship that’s come gently to rest in the north-west of Chengdu, China. It’s July, hot and humid. Inside the spaceship, though, visitors stifle shivers and watch their breath condense into puffs of vapour.
They’re at Sunac Snow Park, a gigantic indoor ski resort that opened in the northern summer of 2020. The refrigerated complex, built to host about 4000 skiers and snowboarders, features an artificial hill that slopes upwards at least a couple of hundred feet, two chairlifts, and three ski runs. There’s also a circular track for ice bicycling (think little bikes on a skating rink) and an open space for ice bumper cars.
