Xiamen residents play basketball at the local Jinshang Primary School. [Photo/xmnn.com]

The number of schools offering free access to their sports facilities for Xiamen residents will be increased from 14 to 48 by the end of this year, according to the Xiamen Sports Bureau.

Officials said Xiamen has been dedicated to promoting exercise and a healthy lifestyle, using different methods. 

Guided by the long-term goal that people in Xiamen should be able to use a full range of accessible school sports facilities of an appropriate standard in the future, the first 14 schools opened sports facilities to surrounding residents last August. 

The participating campuses included Fifth Middle School, Jinshang Primary School and Yanwu Second Primary School. Yunding School took the honors to receive the most visitors, some 58,678 as of July 15. 

Officials said that greater access and convenience would be offered to the public. They said that for example, the process of getting into school sports venues would be simplified. 

The first step is to follow the "厦门i健身" WeChat account (ID: xmijs2017) and then click on "更多 (More)" to open the "个人中心 (Personal Center)". 

A recent full-face photo should be uploaded for review (in about 10 minutes). It is also necessary to buy insurance which takes effect from the next hour. A QR code generated only for the applicant will be validated together with the insurance. The personalized QR code, or identification on a Xiamen Citizen Card APP should then be presented at the entrance of the school sports ground. 

For registration assistance, leave a message on the WeChat account or dial +86-592-3500668. 

Officials added that it should be noted that skateboards, scooters, skates, bicycles and other equipment that may damage the sports ground, as well as snacks and colored liquids (including drinks), were not allowed to be brought in. Smoking or drinking is forbidden. 

Plans are for 100 additional schools to open their sports facilities for free from 2019 to 2021. By 2020, all the eligible schools will join the group. The WeChat account allows users to check available schools and their addresses.