Winter sports to be compulsory for school children in Beijing

Photo taken at the Beijing Primary and Secondary School Hockey League on April 24, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Beijing is planning to list ice and snow sports as a compulsory course for primary and middle school students, announced by municipal authorities at the 2016 International Winter Sports (Beijing) Exposition on Thursday.

The authority is hoping the students can do at least one type of winter sport in the future.

Sun Xuecai, director of the Beijing Sports Bureau, said at the expo that Beijing would push the development of youth ice-snow sports, making sure young students have at least one hour to practice the sports every week.

Beijing is to put ski resorts in the suburbs and ice rinks in six downtown districts.

"Until 2022, 16 new standard indoor and 50 outdoor rinks will be built by the Beijing government", Sun said, adding that commercial rinks are not included in this figure.

Beijing has vigorously been pushing winter sports into school curriculum since this year. For example, rinks and ski simulators are used in several schools, and professional athletes are invited to teach kids to skate.

The government will also fund the sports to lower costs for registration and competitions, as ice and snow sports such as hockey are often unaffordable for families with average income.

Beijing, accompanied by Zhangjiakou, will be the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics, which will be China's first winter Olympics.