Children enjoy free ski boom

Enrollment is free. Courses are taught on weekends and during the winter break.

"At present, we only have two full-time professional coaches, both of whom we recruited from Heilongjiang province," he added.

One of them is 44-year-old Huang, from Harbin, the provincial capital.

"I used to be an instructor at ski resorts in Chongli, Hebei province, and in Beijing's Miyun district, and I was once the head of an alpine rescue team in Harbin," Huang said.

After being recommended by a friend, Huang became an instructor at Daihai in 2019.

"I think the popularization of skiing is a reflection of national strength and power, because the venue, equipment and snow all need investment," he said.

He has witnessed the development of the sport and its associated infrastructure across the country over the last two decades.

"We lacked domestically-developed snowcats and snow machines, as well as technicians. But now, we can make these things ourselves," Huang said.

"I fully support the idea of encouraging 300 million people to try winter sports, and I believe we will have more talented winter sports athletes in the future.

"Skiing is not only for children. People in their 30s, 40s, 50s and even 60s can also participate."

Ni Caixia, a teacher at a primary school in Liangcheng, said, "My daughter has become more outgoing and self-reliant since she started skiing in 2019."

Every winter since then, Ni has accompanied her 12-year-old to Daihai for her free lessons.

"Skiing requires the courage and strength to take on the freezing cold and the slopes. It's a good sport for children to develop these qualities," she added.