Winter swimming, challenge to the nature

（People's Daily Online）  13:54, December 24, 2012

The 2012 China Halar Winter Swimming Tournament was held in Halar, Hulun Buir city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on the afternoon of Dec. 23, 2012.

A total of 126 contestants of 14 participating teams from all over the country took part in the tournament. The oldest contestant is 83 years old. The tournament is defined as an exhibition match as well as a friendly match without scores, awards and without limits on age and swimming strokes.

Renowned as China's northernmost winter swimming resort, Halar has a temperature of below the zero for nearly seven months in a year. The match was held in the temperature between minus 29 and minus 37 degrees Celsius with the thickness of the ice over 1.5 meters.