Skip to main content

Indoor snow centre with rooftop water park opens in China

News
Xiangjiang Joy City Snow World

Xiangjiang Joy City Snow World, boasting a giant indoor snow centre and a water park on the roof, has opened in the Chinese province of Hunan.

According to InTheSnow, the attraction has been under construction in a former quarry for six years, with building work done by China Construction Fifth Engineering Division Corp (CCFED).

Xiangjiang Joy City Snow World’s indoor snow park occupies 30,000 square metres. This makes it the joint sixth largest snow centre in the world (via IndoorSnowNews).

China now operates four of the seven largest indoor snow centres, including the three largest in the world. Chengdu Sunac Snow World opened in June 2020.

Indoor snow park is themed on the Alps

Xiangjiang Joy City Snow World, designed by Austrian architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, is 150,000 square metres.

The indoor snow park, designed by Canadian company CTC Ice & Snow, is themed on the Alps and features a snow playground, skiing, skating, and snow sliding.

The ski hall covers 5,672 square metres and boasts a 1,200-square-metre ice lake and a large snow play area with 13 slides.

The ski run leans against the slope of the mountain, and other areas include an indoor mountain covered in snow, a penguin zone and a winter village. Snow activities include a snow maze, snow castle, and snow sliding.

Xiangjiang Joy City Snow World cost $1.7 billion

Xiangjiang Joy City Snow World
Xiangjiang Joy City Snow World

Xiangjiang Joy City Snow World reportedly cost approximately 12 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) to build. It is expected to create more than 8,000 direct jobs and 50,000 indirect jobs, generating an annual income of around 3 billion yuan ($429 million).

The resort was originally set to open in 2016 and then 2019, before officially launching in summer 2020. It’s hoped that Xiangjiang Joy City Snow World will attract 15 million visitors annually from Hunan and nearby provinces.

Elsewhere,  American Dream’s indoor ski park Big SNOW opened in December 2019. It houses four acres of snowy slopes, a 160-foot vertical drop, a graduated degree of pitch, and 1,000 feet of length for skiers of all ages and skill levels.

Share this

Bea Mitchell

Bea is a journalist specialising in entertainment, attractions and tech with 10 years' experience. She has written and edited for publications including CNET, BuzzFeed, Digital Spy, Evening Standard and BBC. Bea graduated from King's College London and has an MA in journalism.

More from this author

More from this author

Related content

Your web browser is out of date. Update your browser for more security, speed and the best experience on this site.

Find out how to update