Shenzhen has added another cultural tourism landmark with the opening of what is being called the "world's largest indoor ski center." The stark contrast between the 30°C outdoor heat and -6°C indoor chill at the Qianhai Huafa Ice Snow World in late September epitomizes not only this new facility but also China's explosive growth in indoor skiing and major property developers' urgent attempts to pivot toward the cultural tourism sector.

On September 29, the Shenzhen Qianhai Huafa Ice Snow World, certified by Guinness as the "world's largest indoor ski center," began trial operations. On-site observations revealed that by 9 AM on the first day, large crowds of skiing enthusiasts and tourists had gathered outside the facility, with tickets selling out early. Even groups of Hong Kong tourists came to experience the attraction.

On the evening of September 30, project representatives confirmed that over 4,500 visitors were received on the trial operation day, with ongoing optimizations being made in preparation for the National Day holiday.

Industry insiders suggest that amid overall pressure on the real estate sector, whether the "real estate + cultural tourism" model can help property companies achieve transformational breakthroughs remains to be tested by the market. However, Huafa Corporation's (600325.SH, stock price 5.66 yuan, market cap 15.577 billion yuan) current approach is undoubtedly paving the way for other real estate companies with similar transformation ambitions.

According to previous plans, the Shenzhen Qianhai Huafa Ice Snow World project had a total investment scale of 29.6 billion yuan (including ski facilities, commercial spaces, hotels, and other formats), making it a "benchmark-level" project in China's indoor skiing sector.

However, project representatives revealed that due to the government's later acquisition of multiple commercial land plots, the total investment scale has changed accordingly.

This heavy asset investment reveals the typical "capital-intensive" nature of domestic indoor ski facilities: high investment, high operational costs, and long payback periods.

Comparatively, indoor ski facilities require significantly higher investment than traditional outdoor ski resorts. A review of typical domestic ski facility investments shows that outdoor ski resorts commonly require investments of several hundred million yuan, while indoor ski facilities often require tens of billions of yuan or more.

For example, the "Wuyi Snow Valley" outdoor ski resort has a total snow area of 150,000 square meters with a total investment of 510 million yuan, while Haiyang Linshan Ski Resort covers 1,200 acres with an investment of 160 million yuan. In contrast, typical indoor ski facilities like Guangzhou Hot Snow Miracle and Shanghai Yao Xue Ice Snow World have investments exceeding 7 billion yuan each.

Huafa Ice Snow World's investment represents an even greater "escalation," with public data showing the project's previously planned total investment exceeded 29.6 billion yuan.

To alleviate funding pressure, Huafa Corporation returned seven undeveloped commercial land plots to the government in July this year, recovering approximately 4.405 billion yuan. The company stated in its announcement that this move was to "revitalize stagnant assets and avoid continuous development market risks."

Industry insiders view indoor ski facilities as having "money-burning" operational characteristics. On the morning of September 30, Yuan Shuai, Executive Vice President of the Agricultural, Cultural and Tourism Industry Revitalization Research Institute, explained that indoor ice and snow cultural tourism projects generally exhibit "high investment, high energy consumption, high operational costs" characteristics, with projects facing future challenges in balancing "visitor attraction" with "cost control."

"In terms of cost control, high-energy refrigeration systems and large operational teams will significantly increase operating costs. How to reduce energy consumption and labor costs while ensuring service quality is key. Replicating such projects in non-winter sports cities faces multiple obstacles, such as climate differences leading to lower awareness and acceptance of ice and snow sports among residents in non-winter sports cities," Yuan noted.

An ice and snow industry practitioner revealed that indoor ski facilities operate year-round, with continuous electricity consumption for constant-temperature refrigeration systems becoming a significant component of operational costs. Outdoor ski resorts operate only seasonally, with core costs being electricity for snowmaking, creating significant cost differences between the two models.

This is reflected in ticket pricing, with Huafa Ice Snow World positioned in the domestic high-end tier: weekday beginner slope 3-hour ski tickets start at 348 yuan, while unlimited intermediate/advanced slope tickets start at 568 yuan, higher than competitors like Guangzhou Sunac Snow World and Shanghai Yao Xue Ice Snow World. "After all, the overall investment is different, so higher ticket prices are actually normal," the industry practitioner commented.

According to a research report from Sinolink Securities, profitability projections for Huafa Ice Snow World show that under moderate expectations, the project could contribute annual revenue of 650 million yuan and net profit of 130 million yuan once it reaches maturity.

Despite facing multiple challenges, the opening of Shenzhen Qianhai Huafa Ice Snow World adds a significant cultural tourism landmark to Shenzhen.

Upon entering the ski facility, the vast and magnificent space immediately subverts people's conventional understanding of indoor venues, with some professional skiers expressing amazement.

On the morning of September 29, Hong Kong Ski Association Secretary-General Siu Fai Ho said during an on-site interview, "Ice and snow sports are particularly popular in Hong Kong. The project's location in the Greater Bay Area makes it quite convenient for Hong Kong skiing enthusiasts, providing what can be called a 'five-star' venue."

The facility features a 4,000-square-meter ice and snow park with 14 ice and snow recreational activities, including polar adventure tours, snow go-karting, rapid descent spiral snow tracks, and snowy playgrounds.

Regarding other facilities yet to open, project representatives indicated that "the JW Marriott Hotel is currently in intensive preparation and is expected to open soon. Including the diving base and Super Sense Park district, these will debut by the end of this year. By then, the project will offer diverse sports formats beyond skiing, including rock climbing, motorcycles, surfing, and cycling."

From a global perspective, China has become the "main battlefield" for indoor skiing. According to the "2024-2025 China Ski Industry White Paper," China currently occupies 7 of the top 10 globally ranked indoor ski facilities, with all top 5 located in China. With the opening of Shenzhen Huafa Ice Snow World and Changchun Wanda Plaza Ski Resort, 9 of the global top 10 will belong to China. Once the second phase of Taicang Alps International Resort is completed, China will monopolize all top 10 globally ranked indoor ski facilities.

This trend reflects the rapid expansion of China's indoor skiing market: during the 2024-2025 ski season fiscal year (May 1, 2024, to April 30, 2025), 66 indoor ski facilities operated nationwide, representing over 12-fold growth from 5 facilities in 2013. During the same period, indoor ski facilities generated a cumulative 5.63 million skier visits, accounting for 21.61% of national total skier visits, with an annualized compound growth rate of 15.37%, exceeding the 12.87% growth rate for total skier visits and becoming a major growth driver in the global ski market.

Multiple industry experts indicate that for Shenzhen, this "world's largest indoor ski center" fills the gap in large-scale ice and snow cultural tourism projects in Shenzhen and holds significant meaning in the context of Greater Bay Area integrated development.

Song Ding, Senior Researcher at the national high-end think tank CDI, analyzed that although the project is located in Shenzhen, integration among the Greater Bay Area's "9+2" cities has become a very obvious trend. The future will see integrated industrial and market patterns in the Greater Bay Area, creating new opportunities for important cultural tourism projects.

Research shows that besides Huafa Corporation's current ice and snow world layout, real estate companies relatively experienced with the "real estate + cultural tourism" model include Sunac China and Overseas Chinese Town (OCT).

Sunac China is a typical representative, with its cultural tourism segment having built a complete system covering Sunac Parks, Hot Snow Miracle, commercial spaces, hotels, and other diverse formats. It has particularly deep layout in ice and snow cultural tourism, with its "Hot Snow Miracle" brand having opened 9 indoor ski facilities.

Notably, the Huafa Ice Snow World project was originally a collaboration between Huafa Corporation and Sunac China. In November 2020, the "Huafa Corporation + Sunac China" consortium won the Shenzhen Baoan Shajing land plot for 12.71 billion yuan, planning joint development. However, Sunac China later withdrew due to liquidity pressures, leaving Huafa Corporation to take over the entire project.

OCT has re-emphasized "real estate + cultural tourism" dual-wheel drive in its strategic adjustment, emphasizing both existing tourism business enhancement and incremental expansion. Leveraging its foundation of over 60 cultural tourism scenic areas, it attempts to revitalize core competitiveness through resource optimization and product upgrades.

So, can the "real estate + cultural tourism" model become a new opportunity for some real estate companies amid the current slowdown in residential sales growth?

Yuan Shuai explained that the "real estate + cultural tourism" model has existed in the industry for many years, testing companies' financial strength and operational capabilities. Large cultural tourism projects often require hundreds of billions of yuan in funding, while also requiring sufficient reserves to handle potential market fluctuations and unexpected risks. Moreover, cultural tourism projects generally have long payback periods that most companies simply cannot endure.

"For skiing cultural tourism projects, indoor ski facilities need to create unique IP (creative content or brands with commercial value), strengthen safety guarantees, and promote integration with commercial, resort, and digital formats to maintain attractiveness amid increasingly fierce competition. Ultimately, it still comes down to companies' operational capabilities," Yuan concluded.