Behind the "3+4" policy lies Zhangjiakou's unwavering football dream.

Reporter Chen Yong reports. Shortly after the train left Qinghe Station in Beijing, the scenery was dominated by mountains, with undulating green hills extending north to Chongli Prince City Station. This is where the Zhangjiakou competition area for the Beijing Winter Olympics is located, and the Olympic Village is just 1 kilometer in a straight line from Prince City Station.

After visiting the Zhangjiakou Olympic Village, the reporter discovered a bustling crowd, including students engaged in competitions and research, as well as numerous tourists. Although it is only a one-hour high-speed train ride from Beijing, the Zhangjiakou Olympic Village, with its gentle breezes, feels like a paradise against the backdrop of Beijing's extreme heat—on the afternoon of August 4, the real-time temperature was 22 degrees Celsius, and many people would still wear long sleeves in the evening.

The reporter's visit to the Olympic Village aimed to explore the Zhangjiakou City Ice and Snow Sports School (Ruyi Campus) and its "3+4" integrated training system for football, a pioneering initiative that serves as a model nationwide. As the visit deepened, the landscape of football development in Zhangjiakou gradually unfolded: the amateur football scene here, after eight years of persistence and development, has established one of the most comprehensive amateur football systems in the country; post-Olympics, with a focus on event economics, football has become a breakthrough, achieving remarkable results in three years; school football and youth training systems have developed simultaneously, creating a model that combines popularization and elite training; the "large sports school" reform in amateur sports schools holds significant demonstration value for the construction of sports schools in China.

This is a hidden treasure of football nestled deep in the mountains. Many football workers in Zhangjiakou have told reporters: "We have studied the national plans for the revitalization and development of football in detail and compared them one by one. Now, we are pleased to see that we have taken the lead in various aspects such as popularizing school football, integrating youth training, developing training systems, and nurturing community football. However, we also recognize that we have obvious shortcomings in professional football development and hardware facilities, which is a focus for us in the near future."

Such a football model, hidden in the mountains, should not go unnoticed.

In January 2023, the Zhangjiakou Municipal Government issued the "Ten Measures for Building a Strong Sports City," along with 18 supporting measures, deciding to concentrate financial, material, and human resources to support the development of ice and snow sports and football. The broader context is that after the Winter Olympics, the Zhangjiakou Municipal Committee proposed building a strong sports city and developing a "four-type economy," with event economics at the forefront.

In June 2024, the Zhangjiakou City Ice and Snow Sports School was officially established. The school focuses on football and ice and snow as its two core projects, while also offering equestrian and rock climbing, creating a perfect blend of outdoor and indoor activities across spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Perhaps in other places, once the school is established, it can operate in a routine manner. However, the Zhangjiakou Sports Bureau is not content with mediocrity; while continuously innovating, it proposed a bold idea: to apply for the "3+4" integrated training project. Prior to this, only Shanghai University of Sport and Shandong Sport University were the two pilot programs in the country. Looking back from today, we know that on December 16, 2024, the State Council held a meeting to discuss advancing the revitalization and development of football, and we are aware of the national layout for promoting the "3+4" integrated training in 2025, but in August 2024, no one knew any of this.

"At that time, we simply thought that to achieve stable growth in youth football, this was one of the best methods," said Guo Zhiwei, director of the Zhangjiakou Sports Bureau, reflecting on the initial motivation for the application. What deeply moved Guo Zhiwei was that this project received full support from the municipal committee and government, as well as strong backing from Hebei Province: Vice Governor and Director of the Provincial Education Department Dong Zhaowei held multiple meetings to discuss it, and First-Level Inspector Jia Haiming personally oversaw the integrated training plan for the Zhangjiakou City Ice and Snow Sports School. Additionally, the Hebei Provincial Education Department provided the school with 1 million yuan in special funding for quality improvement projects.

Throughout this process, both provincial and municipal levels demonstrated strong support for football. The project was applied for in August 2024 and officially approved on November 11, taking less than three months. The football project achieved integration with Hebei North University’s "3+4" system, while the ice and snow project integrated with both Hebei North University and Hebei Sports University’s "3+4" system.

Next came how to ensure high quality and standards in the integrated training. The Zhangjiakou Sports Bureau introduced several meticulous measures.

(1) In terms of direction, the focus of the ice and snow sports integration is on cultivating industry talents, using professional grades as the baseline, and then admitting students based on academic performance from high to low. The football integration focuses on training excellent athletes, using academic performance as the baseline, and then admitting based on professional ability from high to low.

(2) In terms of philosophy, focusing on "four new talents," the aim is to cultivate football newcomers who are determined to follow the Party, patriotic and dedicated; who possess strong professional skills and qualities; who are tough and willing to fight; and who are well-rounded, healthy, and positive. The school emphasizes ideological and political education, implementing military-style management, where students do morning exercises and sing the national anthem daily, maintaining strict discipline and a spirited atmosphere.

(3) In terms of management, Guo Zhiwei personally serves as the principal, selecting strong, experienced officials from key departments of the Sports Bureau to serve as party branch secretaries and vice principals, and appointing excellent management personnel from the city's education system who are familiar with sports education as teaching vice principals.

(4) In terms of coaches, renowned football players, national team assistant coaches, and Vice Chairman of the Hebei Football Association Chen Tao have been appointed as technical directors. Coaches with professional experience in the Chinese Super League and China League One, holding B-level certificates or above, serve as head coaches, while assistant coaches and goalkeeping coaches hold C-level certificates or above. Additionally, a comprehensive team for physical training and sports rehabilitation will be established, with five football coaches and two goalkeeping coaches to be added this summer.

(5) In terms of faculty, a model of "one team, one coach" and "professional teaching and frontline practice" has been created, with sports teams equipped with leaders, coaches, and cultural course instructors.

Currently, the school has established age groups for 09/10, 11/12, and 13/14, with the 13/14 age group recently winning the championship in the U12 group of the Hebei Youth Football Championship. More importantly, the selection process is based in Zhangjiakou, targeting Hebei Province and the entire country: the 09/10 age group selected 14 young football players from Xinjiang; the 11/12 age group collaborated with the Shanghai Xiaomingxing Club to select 10 outstanding young football players; and the 13/14 age group also selected 14 players nationwide, with plans to establish a 15/16 age group and a women's football team.

A careful review of the development of football in Zhangjiakou reveals three major experiences worth emulating: the first experience is the high level of attention and coordinated promotion from provincial, municipal, and bureau levels; the second experience is the courage to break through and innovate; the third experience is the pursuit of excellence in the implementation process.

The high level of attention and coordinated promotion from provincial and municipal levels is key to Zhangjiakou's football development. Zhangjiakou has a clear strategic plan and full support, while the Zhangjiakou Sports Bureau has detailed and feasible plans for football projects, which form the foundation.

Additionally, the Zhangjiakou Sports Bureau and Education Bureau have established a joint meeting system for the integration of sports and education, led by the main responsible persons of both departments, with relevant leaders and business units participating, to jointly research and determine the school layout for football projects, focusing on recruiting student athletes in junior and senior high schools. This joint meeting system, initiated in June 2023, has already held four meetings in 2025. "The joint meeting is not about being theoretical, but practical, directly addressing real issues," said Shao Li, deputy director of the Zhangjiakou Sports Bureau.

The courage to break through is reflected in the successful application of the "3+4" integrated training project at the Zhangjiakou City Ice and Snow Sports School, while innovation has led to more initiatives: in October 2022, after the conclusion of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the Zhangjiakou Sports Bureau began reforming the "large sports school," shifting the focus from training functions to management functions; the Zhangjiakou Super League, created in 2018, continues to innovate, currently forming a unified event that integrates sports and education, youth and community football, with the 2025 season for the high school group officially launching a double round-robin competition; to address the challenges of managing talented students and the shortage of coaches, Zhangjiakou has implemented youth sports skill assessments and coach skill evaluations.

Everything hinges on implementation. A saying from Guo Zhiwei has circulated among football workers in Zhangjiakou: "If we only listen to reports, then our work would be too comfortable, but can Zhangjiakou's football work be good?" Currently, Zhangjiakou football has developed a habit of leaders going to the grassroots level, including Director Guo Zhiwei, Deputy Director Shao Li, Youth Sports Section Chief Liu Kang, Football Association Secretary General Sun Fujie, and Party Branch Secretary of the Ice and Snow Sports School Li Xiaoguang. On the amateur league fields, Zhangjiakou Football Association Deputy Secretary General Zhou Kai even takes on multiple roles, including cameraman, director, commentator, and simplified VAR.

Everything is for the happiness of the people to play football and for the youth to play football with peace of mind.