YINCHUAN, China, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of people gathered on the ice of a water park of Yinchuan, capital of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region over the weekend that saw freezing temperatures to compete in an Ice Dragon Boat challenge.
"This is the first time for me to try this new sport. It's interesting but also exhausting, and my hands were frozen numb in just ten minutes," said Li Han, sitting on the chair of a boat-like ice sledge. "This team was composed of parents of kindergarten children, and we know each other well."
Every team has 6 players, with five "rowers," including at least one female, and a drummer.
Transplanted from water to ice, the ice dragon boat was introduced to Yinchuan in 2009 by the local sports department. After that, Yinchuan drew up a set of criteria of this new sport, including the size of the boat, the rules of the game and the organization of the players.
It retains the teamwork and competitiveness required in traditional dragon boat racing, according to the challenge's organizer, the CBD of Yinchuan.
"The boat is not easy to control on the slippery ice and deviated from the track easily, so the players always need to jump out to drag it back," said Li.
"There are lots of middle-aged and older racers, and they seem to be more energetic than the young people. The average age of the team who won the first week was 51," said Ni Shuxian, the referee of the challenge.
Starting from January 20, the challenge is scheduled to be held every weekend and refresh its top teams once, and the final game will be held in the beginning of February.
The challenge also includes prize money ranging from 3,000-500 yuan (474-78 USD) for winners from first place to sixth, according to the organizer.
