World's largest indoor ski resort opens in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, SEPT 6: Shanghai opened the world's largest indoor ski resort on Friday, welcoming snowsuit-clad visitors to its faux pistes as China reported its hottest August in 60 years. 

This year's northern summer saw the highest global temperatures ever recorded, and in the faux-Alpine square where the resort's opening ceremony took place, the mercury had already hit 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) by 9:00 am local time.

But the temperature plummeted to well below zero inside the cavernous atrium, where visitors switched from sunglasses and T-shirts into padded overalls, some opting for designer goggles or flapping bat-winged helmets.
At the top of a piste, snowboarder Jessica Zhang was unphased by the August heat record.    —AFP