Retiree takes his holiday to the extreme

WHILE many retirees are still enjoying their leisure time during the Lunar New Year, 64year-old Yang Hongli has taken a different approach.

He has taken to skating on the frozen Beita Lake in Yinchuan, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

“Skating as well as morning running and swimming are all part of my daily routine,” said Yang, an extreme sports lover.

“I never stopped exercising even for one day during the Spring Festival holiday.”

Spring Festival is one of the most important traditions in China, characterized by family reunions and banquets.

“With the rapid growth of the economy, our life is far better than the past,” he said. “If we want, we can have meat and alcohol every single day, but celebrating Spring Festival is not all about eating and drinking.

“This is a wonderful era. For people at my age, we care about more about health, and regular exercise can do us good.”

Yang suffered from hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia and hypertension for 20 years, but diet control, along with jogging, swimming and cycling have gradually helped him regain his health.

“I went for a health examination four years ago, and most of my body indexes are back to normal,” he said. “I also take part in triathlon competitions. I like the challenges.”

Over the past several years, Yang has been to triathlons in more than 10 cities including Shanghai, Xiamen and Weihai.

“If a city can represent a province, then I should have set foot on half of the land of China,” Yang said.

This Spring Festival holiday, Yang kept up physical training in order to perform better in the upcoming triathlon competitions.

He goes out for a 10km run every morning and breaks the ice to swim outdoors at noon, and then skate for a whole afternoon in an natural ice rink, the well-frozen Beita Lake.

“Some exercises like running and swimming are fine in any season; some are not,” he said. “Winter is too cold for cycling, but we can skate.”

Yang also volunteers to help keep the ice clean so it is safe to skate on.

(Xinhua)