On November 6th, 2015, Beijing saw the first snow in 2015 winter. Compared with last year, the first snow came 23 days earlier. The melted snowfall swept dusts and drove away the hazy weather in recent days, bringing good air quality. You may have missed the chance to admire the beautiful snow. However, after the snow, why not go outside to stretch yourself and have some fun in the cold winter?

Snow-covered Forbidden City

Great Wall in the Snow

It’s worth mentioning that Small Haituo Mountain located in suburban Yanqing County was the region that received the most snowfall in the first snow. As a venue of the 2022 Winter Olympics, various winter activities will be held there, including Longqingxia Ice Lantern Festival, Alpine Ski Competition for College Students, and Marathon on Ice. Also a site for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Zhangjiakou, a city near Beijing, was covered by the first snow as well. With the early arrival of snow this year, many ski resorts there advanced the opening for public to the middle of November. Ski amateurs can expect the exciting experiences on the ski boards.

 See Ski Resorts in Beijing & Ski Resorts in Zhangjiakou

If you are not keen on skiing and skating, as the slack season of tourism is coming, you can go to some tourist sites that are not crowded as usual, for example, the Forbidden City. Visiting it in winter may give you some different feelings. Besides, you can get up early in the morning to get to some quiet parks, like Zhongshan Park, Beihai Park, and the Olympic Green. Watch the elderly practicing Tai Chi and swordplay. The easy but skillful performance will surely attract you. If time allowed, you can join in them and take some exercise too. At night, you can drop in a restaurant and taste the famous lamb spine hotpot (Yang Xie Zi in Chinese), which can make your body warm. When it is sunny, you can invite your friends to climb mountains at weekends. There are many mountains in the suburban districts of Beijing for your choice, such as Baihua Mountain and Miaofeng Mountain.

 See Beijing Winter Travel