Farmer and ski instructor Wang Yuxi (in black) gives a ski lesson at the Beidahu Ski Resort, Beidahu Township in Jilin, Northeast China's Jilin Province. Photo: Wang Haiyue/People's Daily Online

Editor's Note:

This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30). A new year begins with new resolve and new momentum. The call to "fight for our dreams and our happiness, and turn our great vision into beautiful realities" continues to inspire actions across China.

In the column "New Year on the Frontlines," reporters from the People's Daily traveled to the grassroots to witness the vitality of a vast nation, see its mountains and rivers in motion and its fields in abundance, and listen to the stories of people finding fulfillment in both life and work.

Through these stories, the column seeks to present a vivid portrait of Chinese modernization.

During the Spring Festival holidays, crowds of skiers filled the Beidahu Ski Resort, Beidahu Township in Jilin, Northeast China's Jilin Province. On the beginner slope, ski instructor Wang Yuxi was helping a young student fasten on a pair of skis. "Lean forward slightly," he said. "Imagine there are rice seedlings in the field — you need to bend down and look at them!"

Wang is a farmer from Nangou Village in Beidahu. He manages more than a dozen mu of cornfields — one mu equals 0.067 hectare. In the past, he took on odd jobs during the farming off-season, and his family earned only around 30,000 to 40,000 yuan ($4,342-5,790) a year.

In 2009, the Beidahu International Ski School came to the village to recruit ski instructors. "We are farmers. If we want to become ski instructors, professionalism comes first," Wang said.

In recent years, he has obtained several credentials, including the national Level 5 qualification for social sports instructors in skiing, and has since become a senior instructor at the resort.

"The winter season has grown much busier for us in the past few years," Wang said. His schedule is almost completely packed, with lessons running from daytime into the evening. "I never worry about having no students. Instead, sometimes there are not even enough instructors," said Wang.

At 4 pm, light snow began to fall. "A timely snowfall promises a good harvest — a good omen. Yuxi, come by my place sometime for a sauerkraut hotpot," said Gao Yu, a farmer-turned-ski instructor, as he slid to a stop beside Wang with a swoosh.

In recent years, inspired by Wang, dozens of farmers in Nangou have become ski instructors, and many villagers have started running guesthouses, farm-to-table restaurants, and other small businesses.

"Each ski season, we create nearly a thousand jobs in related industries, with ski instructors earning between 5,000 and 25,000 yuan a month," said Kong Lingfu, operation manager of the Beidahu International Ski School.

"In the past, we depended on the weather to make a living. Now, we turn 'snow into gold,'" Wang said with a laugh. "The drive and energy we have to make life better now grows even faster than the corn in the fields during spring and summer."