[Photo provided by Shanghai Star]

Skiing is a great activity. It tones your entire body while providing an excellent cardio workout. To help balance, you naturally engage the core stability muscles – the sheath of deep muscle that starts either side of the spine and runs around body, ending in your pelvic region.

It can boost the immune system and even relieve depression. Yet this winter, ski fans in Shanghai can only engage in the sport at snow resort in nearby cities. The only ski resort in Shanghai, Yinqixing Indoor Skiing Site, will remain out of service for renovation and maintenance until 2016.

Recommended ski resort: Lin’an Daming Mountain Ski Resort. It is a ski resort with the highest elevation and the largest scale in eastern China.

Address: Rencun Village, Xishun Town, Lin’an, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province

Self-driving Route: Shanghai-Hangzhou-Canghua-Baiguo-Damingshan (Daming Mountain) Opening days: mid-December to March

Price: 150 yuan per hour 

HOT YOGA

Yoga in any form is an effective low-impact exercise that can have positive effects on blood pressure, stress level and mood.

Bikram yoga, also called hot yoga, is a series of yoga poses performed in a room heated up to 40 C. Doing yoga in a super-heated room is similar to sitting in a sauna. Heated environments increase your pulse rate and metabolism and allow your blood vessels to become more flexible.

That makes circulation easier and increases blood flow to the limbs. Cold muscles become injured more easily than warmed-up ones, so the heat of a hot yoga class allows your body to move more freely. The act of sweating helps control your internal body temperature.

Recommended venue: Y+ Yoga Center, one of the best yoga venues in Shanghai, offers 200 classes a week for every level and a selected variety of both hip and traditional yoga styles.

Address: Room 17-20, 2F, 202-2 Hubin Road, Luwan district