Industry brings new jobs for youngsters

There was a time when the only promising career path for young people in Chongli was to leave the small county in Hebei province for jobs in nearby cities like Beijing and Tianjin.

But with the local ski industry flourishing, young people like Zhai Yujia are increasingly choosing to stay to take advantage of job offers at budding ski resorts and in the fledging regional tourism industry.

"I felt so fortunate to be able to find a decent job at home after graduating from college in Shandong province," said Zhai, who was hired by the Genting Resort Secret Garden as a ski instructor in 2014 after obtaining a coach's license from the Chinese Ski Association.

"With more ski resorts, hotels and shops opening in recent years, a lot of my peers don't need to struggle in the competitive job market of other places, and they are returning home to work," the 20-year-old said.

Now, with the county involved in Beijing's bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the scale of the regional ski industry will further expand, creating more jobs at new resorts, restaurants and hotels.

Liu Yun, a senior ski coach at Genting Resort, said Genting's ski school is planning to recruit 50 more instructors this ski season, as its current 100-coach crew is often short-handed during the weekends.

Li Li, Party chief of the county, envisions residents' average income significantly improving if Beijing wins the bid.

"Because of the growing interest in skiing and the publicity over the bid, our county has been flooded with visitors from nearby, big-market cities, and they have been willing to spend money," Li said.

According to the county government, local farmers' average monthly income rose to 7,880 yuan ($1,270) in 2013, from less than 1,000 yuan in 2003. One-sixth of Chongli's nearly 20,000 residents have skiing-related jobs.