China is encouraging 300 million people to pick up winter sports nationwide. Despite rarely getting any snowfall, Shanghai is seeing interest in winter sports grow, especially among students. One school has even built its own indoor ice rink. Zhao Boyuan has more.

The students at Shanghai High School began taking ice skating classes this semester, twice a week, at the school's new underground ice rink.

XIA LANXUAN Student Shanghai High School "We all have very good time on the ice, we all have fun. I really like our school's facilities and appreciate our school providing a chance to practice ice sports."

LING YIXUAN Student Shanghai High School "As we all know that Shanghai barely snows. It really fascinate me how people can use simple blades, which are basically knives we see every day, to do such difficult techniques on ice. It needs so much hard work. All of these experiences will really help me out throughout my life. For example in academic contest, I was able to focus. It provides me new perspectives of how you should view problems and your own struggles."

The school invited former professional ice sports athletes to coach the students.

ZHAO HAIDI Ice Skating Coach Shanghai High School "We teach the basic knowledge and rules of ice skating during the class. They wanted to know more about this sport when we played videos of the past Winter Olympics."

Shanghai High School listed ice and snow sports as major items for physical education classes in 2019, including ice hockey, speed skating, figure skating, and curling.

FENG ZHIGANG Principal, Shanghai High School "Shanghai is an international metropolis with more daring, open-minded people and a better understanding of new trends. Regarding the methods of education, we tend to have academic, physical, and ethical approaches at the same time. We see winter sports as a kind of social skill to promote better negotiation and mutual-understanding between people of future generations from different countries."

In Shanghai, over 70 middle schools are listed as a "School with Winter Sports Programs" by China's Ministry of Education. And nearly 80,000 students have participated in winter sports classes and relative activities. Authorities expect a bigger number in the near future, especially after the Beijing Winter Olympics. Zhao Boyuan, CGTN.