Some students in northeast China's Jilin Province have got a special opening to their spring semester, taking part in a skiing lesson coached by Paralympic veteran Peng Yuanyuan.

Peng, a former para cross-country athlete, is best remembered for her performance at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Winter Games, where she finished fifth in the women's five kilometer classic standing event.

"With skiing gaining more popularity, kids have also taken up the sport. I'm surprised they're only around 10 years old. I asked them 'Do you love skiing?' and they all said 'Yes!' – that's awesome!" said Peng.

It seems these students were born to take part in winter sports like skiing and ice skating because they all hail from China's freezing north. And with the country pushing its ambitious goal to encourage 300 million Chinese to take up winter sports by 2022, it's no wonder there's new interest.

In the city of Jilin, elementary and high school students can have skiing and snowboarding classes at the resorts free of charge.

Last year, the local government spent nearly 10 million yuan (about 1.5 million U.S. dollars) to support the classes.

The city also marks the first week of annual winter vacation as "snow break," during which elementary and high schools host snow sport-related activities for students.

More than 400,000 students participated in these activities last year alone.

"I'm very happy to see so many children here today participating in ice and snow sports in such nice venues. I hope I'll get to see some of them attend international competitions in the future," said Yang Jinkui, director of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games Integration Department.

China has been looking to deepen cooperation between ski resorts and schools as part of a national blueprint to add winter sports to the curriculum for 5,000 schools by 2025.

(Cover: Veteran para athlete Peng Yuanyuan (L) teaches elementary school students skiing skills in the city of Jilin, northeast China's Jilin Province, March 5, 2021. /CGTN)