Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Recently, a middle school in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province held a special sports meeting with an agricultural theme. The competition items, including carrying buckets of water relay, carrying grain, transplanting rice seedlings and husking corn, simulating the whole process of cultivating crops from planting to harvest, prove to be far more engaging than traditional sporting events. Before the sports meeting, teachers conducted a survey which revealed that about 90 percent of the students had never taken part in such activities. Students had a great opportunity to learn about agricultural production through these special activities. In recent years, more and more schools in China have tried to hold extracurricular activities in interesting and educational ways. These novel attempts not only let students do more exercise and cultivate team spirit, but also lead them to understand and familiarize themselves with different fields in life, allowing them to learn knowledge and appreciate culture in entertaining ways.