Climbing changes destiny of students in mountainous regions in S China's Guangxi

For many people, climbing is a sport about speed and passion. However, for children from mountainous areas in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, climbing is not only a sport, but also a hobby and dream. By practicing hard, they've gained confidence, gotten out of the mountains and changed their destiny.

Students from Mashan county in Nanning city, Guangxi participate in climbing training for three hours every weekday, and for six hours on weekends.

Li Yantan, a member of the climbing team at a middle school in Mashan county, started to practice climbing when she was 10. The hands of the 14-year-old bear thick calluses accumulated from climbing. Despite laborious training, the young girl still maintains a passion for the sport.

A middle school student from Mashan county competes in a climbing competition. (Photo/Xinhua)

"Climbing has become my hobby, and my life is fun as I train with my classmates every day," said the girl. Despite coming from a family mainly supported by her mother, who is a migrant worker, and that the young girl has to take care of her grandmother, her father with poor health and her younger brother, Li has never thought about giving up climbing.

Li once had her ankle injured in training. For about half a month after that, she trained with one leg. "Climbing is a dream that I must fulfill," said Li.

There are many students in Mashan who are hardworking and tenacious, just like Li. According to their instructors, through climbing, the students have improved their health, and by training and competing in sports, the students have broadened their horizons.

"I won first prize in the category of climbing difficulty and second prize in rock climbing at the 15th Sports Games of Guangxi. Going forward, I'll keep fighting and become stronger," said Li.

Mashan county started to vigorously develop climbing in 2017. It invited two professional climbers to train students at two schools. Li Yunxia, one of them, recruited more than 120 members for her team at first, but half a month later, only over 70 students managed to make it to the end.

"Mashan county provides many suitable climbing routes and the local students are capable of hard work. However, the students and their parents knew little about climbing," said Li Yunxia, adding that some parents thought taking part in training every evening would occupy the time their children could have spent learning, so they were not supportive. This led to some students quitting.

The local government made great efforts to mobilize students to join the climbing team. It paid all training expenses and provided training equipment, said He Qi, the climbing instructor at another school in Mashan county.

The school also helped by providing a good training environment, improving students' nutrition, working out study plans for the students who took part in training, and holding climbing contests, said He.

Since 2017, Mashan county has hired 53 climbing coaches for 23 climbing training schools. To date, the county has organized five training sessions for climbing instructors, and 28 climbing instructors have been certified.

By September 2022, a total of 29 students with special talents in climbing had been admitted by Mashan High School, which is located in the county seat of Mashan.

The local government also sought to collaborate with Guangxi University of Science and Technology, colleges and vocational schools to try to provide more channels for students with special talents in climbing to get admitted in college.

By November 2022, the climbing teams in Mashan county had won 100 gold medals, 88 silver medals and 79 bronze medals at various sporting events.