Saigon people go skiing to avoid the heat

Ho Chi Minh City Trong Tin and his girlfriend entered the ski resort in Thu Duc City and immediately realized there were hundreds of people lining up ahead of them.

"It's so hot outside that I want to 'take refuge' in a cool space like this," Tin said. After nearly half an hour of queuing, it was Tin's turn to buy a ticket. He chose a two-hour session, priced at 180,000 VND. He said he would try activities like making a snowman, sliding down the slope and taking photos. In the game complex, the snow space designed in the style of a European street with an 8-meter-high slide is the most crowded place. He and his girlfriend started with the double-slide slide.

People skiing at an amusement park in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Ngoc Ngan — People skiing at an amusement park in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: *Ngoc Ngan*

Since the end of February 2024, Ho Chi Minh City has experienced a widespread heat wave, with temperatures reaching 35-37 degrees Celsius on many days, causing shopping malls, ski resorts, and ice skating rinks to become crowded with people coming to escape the heat.

A representative of the ski resort in Thu Duc City said that last week, the number of visitors coming during the noon time from 1:00-3:00 PM and 3:00-5:00 PM was quite high, accounting for 50% of the total day. Instead of resurfacing the snow once a day as usual, the sudden increase in visitors caused the frequency to increase to once every half a day.

In the playground, artificial snow is produced using Japanese technology that is 90% real. In addition, the unit arranges foam snow to be sprayed on the ceiling every 60 minutes. On weekdays, visitors are not limited in time, but on weekends, the unit is forced to divide the number of visitors because of the large number of visitors, ranging from 600 to 1,000 people. 80% of visitors are families with small children, the rest are young people aged 18-35 who come to experience.

Waiting room in front of the ski area in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, March 2024. Photo provided by the character — Waiting room in front of the ski area in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, March 2024. *Photo provided by the character*

Thanh Bang, a teacher at a primary school in District 12, said the school had booked 500 slots for students to experience lunch on March 5. She said that March is the school's extracurricular activity period, coinciding with the peak of the hot season, so in addition to the topics at the zoo and museum, they also took students skiing for more experience.

"I saw that the children were quite excited to shovel snow, make snowmen and play on the slide," said Ms. Bang.

On the same day, Thanh Nhan, 23, also brought her 15-year-old brother. She said the game area and food stalls were just an added experience, they mainly wanted to play at the ski resort.

She said the space was cool, with jackets, shovels and slides provided. The slopes were moderately high and not too dangerous. "A perfect place to escape the early summer heat," Nhan said.

However, Tin feels the area is more suitable for children than adults who can visit many times.

"If you stay too long, you will feel a bit bored because there is not much to do," Tin said.

Ngoc Ngan

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