Feature: Life changed by snow

Xie Ting, from Chongli in north China's Hebei Province, might have joined the country's migrant workforce if he had not become a ski instructor.

Young people used to have very limited choices in the mountains administered by Zhangjiakou City: farmer or miner.

Xie wanted neither, even if his family had been farmers for generations, and chose to stay home when a ski resort opened near his home village of Huangtuzui in 2003.

Chongli was thrust into the global spotlight when Beijing and Zhangjiakou won their co-bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The Chongli resort is the planned site for competitions such as freestyle skiing and snowboarding.

"It has changed our village a lot. Before, nobody visited here at all," he said.

Today, the 30-year-old earns about three times more than a local government employee, and dreams of working at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

During his visit to Chongli earlier this month, President Xi Jinping ordered high-quality preparation for the Games to make it a "remarkable, extraordinary, excellent" event.

Wanlong Ski Resort where Xie is working is increasingly busy.

Xie began life at the resort as a security guard. He skied for the first time after he lost a bet with his friend, and fell in love with the sport. The next year, he transferred to the resort's first-aid team and began skiing every day. By diligent self-study, he became a instructor.

Soon he realized that teaching others is different from teaching himself. "I downloaded teaching videos, took notes, mimicked the teacher in front of the mirror during the night and in front of the woods during the day," he recalled.

Later, he left the resort temporarily and followed a teacher in Japan to refine skills, because skiing remains a weak sport in China.

Back at the resort, he was not satisfied with teaching skiers, and began training instructors. "I want to give my know-how to others, and help them experience the joy of skiing," he said.

Xie is working on certificates to be a referee, which he hopes will make him part of the Winter Olympics Games in five years.

Hard practice has left persistent pain on Xie's waist. His parents want him to quit the sport, but he refuses.

"Skiing may be the career of my lifetime," he said.

The ski industry has opened a whole new world of snow for many villagers in Chongli, including Xie, and allowed them to make money without leaving their hometown.

More and more young people in Chongli have been trained and hired by ski resorts as instructors, while others have also found jobs as security guards or service staff, or run restaurants around the resorts. Endi