The state-run news media said that more than 2,840 primary and secondary schools, serving nearly 1.4 million students, reopened on Tuesday. It was a striking turnabout from the early days, when the virus spread rapidly and mysteriously through Wuhan and officials imposed a 76-day lockdown.

Those memories lingered as students endured temperature checks outside school gates and lessons on hand-washing. But many hailed the school year as another sign that life was slowly getting back to normal in China.

“School is open, and I’m very excited and happy,” a sixth-grade student named Li Xinnuo told a radio broadcaster in Wuhan. “I can see my classmates, whom I haven’t seen for a long time.”

As countries around the world struggle to safely reopen schools, China is taking an ambitious approach, vowing to resume in-person classes this autumn for almost all students. (A notable exception is the region of Xinjiang in the west, where several cities remain under lockdown more than a month after an outbreak.)