A nationwide long-distance run promoting exercise and patriotism among students kicked off in Beijing on December 8, in which participants will run the equivalent distances between Chinese cities and the Diaoyu Islands.

The campaign, dubbed "Sunshine Sports", involves students from primary schools to universities running several races until they accumulated the specified distance for their age group.

The races include a 140-kilometer event, or the distance from Taiwan's Pengjia Islet, the 190 kilometers from Keelung, Taiwan and a whopping 350 kilometers, the distance from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province to Diaoyu Islands.

The event, launched by the Ministry of Education on December 7, is themed "Love the Motherland, Starting with Physical Exercise." While some expressed support, many Chinese netizens questioned the ministry's use of patriotism to teach students about fitness.

@民族精神大本营: This is a clever way to help students learn about the geography of the Diaoyu Islands. I don't understand why so many people are mocking it.

@半杯Espresso半杯绿茶：What's the significance of this? Running is for strength and exercise. Please don't put politicize in it just for better performance ratings. There is a proper place and time for patriotism, so here is a question "when students are forced to run, will they choose to love or hate patriotism?"

@思者之歌：It's quite a good way to get students to exercise while getting a sense of patriotism. I support combining action and thought.

@雪松达人: It's completely ridiculous. You make children stay up late at midnight, and then force them to run hard. Do you want them to die?

@蓝色鸢尾888： Educators should not promote patriotism in this way. Not only do students have no idea about what patriotism is, they have no idea why they should run to Diaoyu Islands. They should learn how to be a good person and love others before learning to love their country.