Primary and middle school students in Xi'an can enjoy a "cool summer" free of charge at 23 swimming venues from July 20 to Aug 19 by booking online.

Open from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm or 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, the swimming venues are available in 13 counties and districts throughout Xi'an.

Free swimming venues are required to have high quality facilities, legal procedures, and abundant operation and management experience and must meet national standards for public swimming pools, said Liu Dengfeng, an official with the sports bureau of Xi'an.

In addition, no accidents should have occurred at the swimming venues during the past two years of operation, he added.

Students and parents can follow the WeChat account "Xi'an Sports Publicity" (xi'antiyuxuanchuan in pinyin) or login to the sports bureau of Xi'an's official website to scan the quick response (QR) code for registration.

By scanning a QR or verification code, primary and middle school students are allowed to swim for free with valid documentation, while children under 10 years old must be accompanied by parents.

The WeChat account gives basic information about the swimming venues, including location, name, telephone number, pool size and swimming lane numbers.

The free swimming pools are meant to reduce river and lake drowning incidents, enrich holiday life for students and encourage students to get more exercise.

"In the future, Xi'an will make more sports venues free to students and offer more free sports training to give students a better appreciation of sports," said Feng Yanyang, director of the sports bureau.