Chinese, Russian winter swimmers greet new year

Freezing weather could not chill the enthusiasm of Chinese and Russian winter swimmers who dived and swam here in Nanhu lake to greet new year.

Although the temperature fell to minus 10 degrees Celsius, more than 1,000 men took part in the activity. They come from 15 different provinces of China, including a team from southern metropolis Guangzhou.

In the crowd, a Russian blonde attracted the attention of people. Her Chinese name is Wen Qing and she is an international student of Jilin University.

"This is my first winter swimming in China, and it's my honor to swim with Chinese friends on the first day of 2014," she said, "The winter swimming not only benefits our physical healthness, but also strengthens our wills to resolve difficulties. More and more people all over the world are enjoying the sport."

Wei Xiuyun, who is the vice director of Jinlin provincial sports bureau,said, "More and more Chinese people liked surfing the Internet at home in winter. So we orgnized the national winter swimming invitational tournament in order to change the unhealthy life-style. The sport will attract more tourists to Changchun in winter, and it will serve as a name card for the city."