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7th International Show for Beauty of Arabian Purebred Horses to Start December 11

The organizing committee said that horse registration ended on November 8 - File Photo/Reuters
The organizing committee said that horse registration ended on November 8 - File Photo/Reuters
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7th International Show for Beauty of Arabian Purebred Horses to Start December 11

The organizing committee said that horse registration ended on November 8 - File Photo/Reuters
The organizing committee said that horse registration ended on November 8 - File Photo/Reuters

Under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the King Abdulaziz Arabian Horses Center will hold here the 7th International Show for Beauty of Arabian Purebred Horses on December 11-14.
The organizing committee said that horse registration ended on November 8 and that a press conference will be held on December 4 in Riyadh to provide more information about the number of participating horses, the value of prizes, and judges, sponsors, and participants, SPA reported.
The show is one of the most significant such championships in the world. In the last edition, 296 horses belonging to 176 owners participated in all categories.

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In Freezing Temperatures, Swimmers in China Plunge into a River for Health and Joy

A resident swims in a pool carved from ice on the frozen Songhua river in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
A resident swims in a pool carved from ice on the frozen Songhua river in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
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In Freezing Temperatures, Swimmers in China Plunge into a River for Health and Joy

A resident swims in a pool carved from ice on the frozen Songhua river in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)
A resident swims in a pool carved from ice on the frozen Songhua river in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP)

Even as the mercury dropped below freezing, enthusiasm soared among about a dozen hardy swimmers during an annual ritual in northeast China’s ice city of Harbin.

The swimmers had trained daily throughout the year for this moment.

They first had to carve out a pool in the Songhua River, thawing the 10-centimeter (4-inch) thick ice that froze overnight. Then they stripped down and, one by one, plunged into the bone-chilling waters of the pool about 10 meters (33 feet) long.

Some said their limbs were already numb when the air temperature fell to minus 13 degrees Celsius (8 degrees Fahrenheit).

Chen Xia, from the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, dived into the river even though she was suffering from a cold. She said the waters in her home city were warmer than those in Harbin, where the temperature was about 0 C (32 F).

The experience strengthened her confidence in winter swimming, a sport she has been devoted to for about two decades.

“I felt prickling all over my body,” said Chen, 56. “But it still made me feel blissful."

Harbin resident Yu Xiaofeng said winter swimming in her city can be dated back to the 1970s, after locals saw Russian Orthodox faithful being baptized in the river. In 1983, the city's winter swimming association was established.

Yu, 61, said she found a sense of a big family and joy during her 30 years of swimming.

“Since the pandemic, we came up with a slogan: Rather suffer through winter swimming than line up at the hospital,” she said, adding that winter swimmers appeared to have better health than others.

You Decang, 76, said swimming kept him healthy and he had never caught a cold.

"If I go just one day without winter swimming, I feel quite uncomfortable,” he said.