Yahoo – AFP, Tom Hancock, January 17, 2016
Buried waist deep in ice for more than an hour wearing nothing but a pair of swimming shorts, the man known in China as "Polar Bear" shivered and laughed at the challenge.
 |
| Cui Deyi, known as "Polar Bear," plays mahjong while standing waist-deep in a box filled with ice in Handan, in China's Hebei province on January 16, 2016 (AFP Photo/Fred Dufour) |
Buried waist deep in ice for more than an hour wearing nothing but a pair of swimming shorts, the man known in China as "Polar Bear" shivered and laughed at the challenge.
"At
the moment I feel very good," said Cui Deyi, his torso exposed to
near-freezing winter temperatures in the northern Chinese city of Handan on
Saturday.
Cui is one
of an elite group of global competitors testing humanity's ability to withstand
extreme cold.
"I
could continue at least another hour," said Cui, with the steely
confidence of a man who reportedly submerged for seventy-five minutes in
near-freezing waters off the coast of Norway in 2011.
With
fragments of ice pressing against his lower body, the rotund athlete's arms
were rocked by shivers. But that did not prevent him from winning several games
of Chinese chess.
At rapid
fire speed he slammed pieces down on a board in front of his transparent tub,
securing victory against a local opponent.
"I'm using chess to test my ability to withstand cold, and to see if my thoughts and hand reactions are suffering," he added, still half-submerged.
 |
Cui Deyi,
known as "Polar Bear," plays mahjong while standing in a box filled
with ice in Handan, in China's Hebei province on January 16, 2016 (AFP
Photo/Fred Dufour)
|
"I'm using chess to test my ability to withstand cold, and to see if my thoughts and hand reactions are suffering," he added, still half-submerged.
Cui hails
from Huangshan in the eastern province of Anhui, and began competing in cold
endurance contests around a decade ago, after years of swimming in rivers and
lakes during winter.
"Other
people would shiver a lot after five minutes or so. But I could do half an hour
on an hour with no problems," Cui said.
"So I
slowly started to turn it into a profession".
'I'll take
them on'
Winter
swimming, which sees enthusiasts breaking into iced-up waterways for dips said
to stave off illness, is popular in many parts of China, and even has
government backing.
There are
several hundred Chinese clubs dedicated to the hobby -- including one in Handan
which organised Cui's challenge, beside a half frozen lake named Yiquan.
A crowd
including several government officials surrounded Cui, beside a large red sign
reading "freely swim in Yiquan lake and build the China Dream".
 |
People go
swimming in a frozen lake after a man called Cui Deyi, known as
"Polar
Bear", performed in a box filled with ice in Handan, in China's Hebei
province
on January 16, 2016 (AFP Photo/Fred Dufour)
|
Local
Winter swimming enthusiasts said their endurance paled before the man known as
the "Polar Bear of Huangshan".
"We
can't be compared to him, he's great... Ordinary people can only look on with
respect" said Wu Guangji, 50, donning a yellow swimming cap in preparation
for a plunge.
Cui is not
the only cold-endurance competitor in China. In 2013 he faced off against
challenger Jin Songhao, with both submerged up to neck-level in ice tanks.
He emerged
victorious after 138 minutes, reports said. He has since claimed victories
against Russian competitors.
Internationally
his biggest rival is Dutch national Wim Hof, known as "Iceman".
He managed
to set a world record by reaching 7,400 metres (24,278 feet) on Everest in 2011
wearing just a pair of shorts.
Hof insists
that he has no special powers, and depends on decades of training in meditation
and yoga.
But Cui
challenged the Dutchman, saying: "Whoever in the world is good, I'll take
them on, and see whose body can withstand more".
 |
Cui Deyi,
known as "Polar Bear," plays mahjong while standing waist deep in
a
box filled with ice in Handan, in China's Hebei province, on January 16, 2016
(AFP Photo/Fred Dufour)
|
Minutes
later he was pulled out of the ice tank, with assistants quickly handing him a
white bath robe to cover his black swimming trunks.
The outside
temperature was a bracing two degrees celsius (36 Farenheit).
After being
patted down by assistants trying to restore blood circulation to his icy-cold
extremities, he dressed and retired to a hotel.
Warming up
over a bowl of noodles and vegetable dumplings, he said he relied merely on
regular practice -- including half an hour a day sleeping in an ice bath.
Referring
to his abilities and daily regimen, he asked simply: "It's pretty awesome,
isn't it?"
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