If your romantic image of Christmas includes snow-capped peaks and winter sports, Beijing's suburbs may have just what you're looking for.

Skiing has taken off in a big way in China with Beijing alone seeing a spate of new resort openings in the last few years.

It has been estimated that there are nearly 200 ski resorts in 17 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China.

The sport has shed the luxury aura that for so long deterred most people and become popular with ordinary folk. Many now flock to resorts barely knowing how to ski.

Skiing investors once grinning about soaring revenues have found themselves dragged into a price war as many competitors appear.

In Beijing, there are over a dozen ski resorts built following the completion of Shijinglong, the first ski resort set up in Beijing in 1999. Many slopes are built along the natural hill terrains of mountains. Artificial snow is produced by powerful snow-making machines as soon as the temperature drops low enough.

Here we list two major upcoming ski events, aimed at amateurs from the turn of the year and onward.

National Popular Mountain Skiing Competition

Staged for the second time by the Chinese Skiing Association (CSA), the event aims to promote skiing among more people through the wide-participation of amateur skiers in China.

The competition consists of a series of six stops to be held in Beijing and China's northeastern Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces over three months.

Skiers are strictly limited to amateur enthusiasts who are neither members of any national or provincial teams or specialized sports schools.

Skiing clubs registered with the CSA are also allowed for the first time to participate in the competition with at most one professional skier in each team.

The stops of the competitions are scheduled to take place over weekends.

Participants will be offered assistance with boarding, training and equipment by the hosting resorts. The final winner will be awarded a free one-week ski training session in Switzerland.

Though allowed to compete, foreign skiers performances will be excluded from the formal ranking on the scoreboard.

People interested in the event can call 6833-2573 to learn more.

Beijing Ski Sprint

This is a great opportunity for ski enthusiasts to appreciate for the first time the heated cross-country skiing competition among world-ranked skiers without leaving the downtown area of Beijing!

Presented by Nordic Ways, the event will take place on December 30 amongst a total of 32 skiers from home and abroad on a 1,100 meter long track to be made and maintained temporarily in Chaoyang Park.

Among the participants, there will be 15 foreign skiers including world champion and Olympics medalists racing against China's best.

As a bid to promote cross-country skiing, still quite new compared to mountain skiing in China, the event aims to draw people's attention through fun activities held in conjunction with the competition.

A half-hour competition contested by handicapped skiers from Norway will start from 5:30 pm on December 30, followed by a performance by Robert Wells, one of the most popular pianists in Scandinavia.

The formal competition will start at 7:00 pm after a 15-minute opening ceremony.

People will be able to access all these activities simply by paying the park entrance fee on that day.

According to Nordic Ways, part of the snow track will be retained in nearby woods in the park for the public to try out cross-country skiing after the competition. Equipment and instructors will be available to teach novices the basics.

People interested can call 8580-1058 to find out more.

Major ski resorts around Beijing (price per person)

Beijing Huaibei International Ski Resort

Price: 20 yuan (ticket), 60 yuan/hour on weekdays and 80 yuan/hour on weekends; 160 yuan/half day on weekdays and 190 yuan/half day on weekends

Tel: 6966-1177

Miyun Yunfo Ski Resort

Price: 20 yuan (ticket), 60 yuan/hour on weekdays and 80 yuan/hour on weekends; 180 yuan/half day on weekdays and 260 yuan/half day on weekends

Tel: 6521-1616, 6521-1919

Nanshan Ski Village (Miyun)

Price: 20 yuan (ticket), 100 yuan/two hours on weekdays and 150 yuan/two hours on weekends, 140 yuan/four hours on weekdays and 200 yuan/four hours on weekends

Tel: 6445-0990/91

Beijing Snow World Ski Park

Price: 18 yuan (ticket), 50 yuan/hour on weekdays and 70 yuan/hour on weekends, 120 yuan/four hours on weekdays and 190 yuan/four hours on weekends

Tel: 8976-1886, 8976-1889

Beijing Shijinglong Ski Resort

Price: 20 yuan (ticket), 100 yuan/two hours on weekdays and 140 yuan/two hours on weekends; 140 yuan/four hours on weekdays and 190 yuan/four hours on weekends

Tel: 6919-1617

Saibei Ski Resort

Price: 30 yuan (ticket), 60 yuan/hour, 110 yuan/two hours and 150 yuan/half day

Tel: 6710-3778

Jundushan Ski Resort

Price: 20 yuan (ticket), 60 yuan/hour on weekdays and 80 yuan/hour on weekends, 140 yuan/four hours on weekdays and 190 yuan/four hours on weekends

Tel: 8464-1904, 6072-5888

(Beijing Weekend December 12, 2003)