Nurturing an unlikely hockey hotbed

Wei, who is one of 14 players in the team, fell in love with the sport after watching a game in Beijing a few years ago.

"Ice hockey gives me an opportunity to exercise and make friends. We feel great fighting spirit together as a team. It's just like a big family," he said.

Wei's mom, Li Xuyang, who helps organize the team, told Xinhua that the club was formed with the aim of bringing together the city's young hockey enthusiasts.

Finding an ideal rink for training was by no means easy in Anhui, where annual average temperatures range from 14 to 17 Celsius.