nhk world's eiji hamanishi has more. >> reporter: the national ski resort on the outskirts of beijing the weekend thousands of people come here for the winter sports. in china skiing is a relatively new pastime, so many people take lessons before venturing out on the slopes. >> translator: lots of people go skiing these days. it's become popular. so i came out here to try it. >> translator: i like to go skiing almost every weekend. >> reporter: there are now 13 ski resorts in the beijing area. china's rapid economic growth has led to a boom in leisure sports like skiing. 15 years ago there were only skiers and snowboarders in the country. that number has now jumped to some 10 million, says the chinese national ski association. >> as a sport we have a lot of people in northern china, and such kind of service industry also spill over to manufacturing industry like material industry, for example. so the government just expect the service industry could be the next engine to drive economic development. so i think it's very hopeful for china. >> reporter: companies in europe and other part

nhk world's eiji hamanishi has the story. >> reporter: the leaders of 21 countries and territories gathered at the apec summit. since china's prestige was at stake its government undertook major preparations for the event. the meeting was held at yangxi lake about 50 kilometers north of beijing. the summit took place on an island. also tight security for the apec summit opened up the island tourist spots. >> translator: it's a beautiful place and the air is clean. i really want to go on the island. >> reporter: not many people visit during the season. the weather is too cold. but a flood of tourists gathered at the island's entrance. i am standing in front of the conference center where the apec leader summit took place. now this area is opened but only for a limited number of tourists. among those allowed on site are people with reservations at hotels. the china national tourism administration rated the scenery there as a four out of a possible five with five being the most scenic. other cities were significantly upgraded ahead of the apec meeting. hotels and pagodas were built, as well as