“Before arriving at Wanlong, I hadn’t realized how demanding the resort would be for an absolute beginner. It wasn’t that I was alone—along with the snow guns, there was a fairly phenomenal concentration of ignorance around the magic carpet, the conveyor belt that hauled novices up the easiest hill. Sometimes I saw parents or grandparents in loafers and heels, standing on either side of a child on rented skis. The adults would shuffle in the snow, holding the kid upright; because of the free admission for children, it was a low-cost way to spend an afternoon. Beside the magic carpet, warning signs illustrated some of the stunts that people must have pulled here. One sign featured a stick figure who appeared to be lying down and taking a nap on the conveyor belt.” Peter Hessler in The New Yorker: Learning to Ski in a Country of Beginners. “As China prepares to host the Winter Olympics, its people get on skis.”