(ECNS) -- The educational authority in a northern Chinese city has urged students to include long-distance running in their winter holiday assignments, a proposal met online with wild enthusiasm from some and skepticism from others.
More than 60 percent said the assignment promotes healthy living, according to China National Radio.
Taiyuan City, the capital of Shanxi Province, has demanded the extra work from students over the winter break, which is traditionally busy with all kinds of writing-centered tasks.
The city recommended that elementary students run between 800 and 100 meters a day, middle school students 1,500 meters, and high school and college students 2,000 meters.
Once back at school, students will be required to calculate the total length they ran over the holiday.
But some netizens are concerned about the air quality in Taiyuan, which like other cities in Shanxi has relied heavily on the coal mining industry.
"I would rather copy out the book 'Records of the Grand Historian' ten times than run on a polluted day," one netizen said.
Others said the city lacks public sports spaces and that it's dangerous to exercise on busy streets.
