HARBIN, May 18 -- Addicted to hockey at youth and ping pong in old age, Guo Shutao, an aged Daur sport enthusiast in Heihe in China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang, starts every day with a sports meeting of some kind.

Apart from Guo, many Daur seniors maintain a healthy lifestyle through sports.

The Daur people, one of Chinese minorities mainly living in Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia, tend to be active, including singing, dancing, and sports in their daily routine. Guo, who embodies this active nature of the Daur people, is a 67-year-old farmer from Fularji Village, Heihe.

Guo told Xinhua his love for playing ball and dancing prevented him from taking to cigarettes or alcohol and helped him build up his body.

Having abandoned bad habits for years, Guo said "now that our living standards have risen, it's my time to play sports and enjoy life."

Field hockey is a traditional sport for the Daur people. At a square in Guo's community stands a sculpture of hockey players.

"I was a fanatic hockey fan in my teens," he recalled. "My friends and I joined two groups to play hockey. We took the game so seriously that the losers even promised a kowtow to the winners."

Later into middle age, Guo turned to playing ping pong, in particular after the village bought new ping pong tables with financial support from the town-level government three years ago.

"I often play ping pong with other villagers. That looks like exciting challenges among us," said Guo, who does well in both singles and doubles.

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