Over the past month, 213 teams have joined a unique snowball fight competition held at Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.

More than 2,000 students from different departments, including some overseas students, enjoyed the traditional winter sport of the northeast region in the chill of winter.

According to rules of the snowball fight, also named Yukigassen, players hit each other with standard-sized snowballs while avoiding attacks behind snow bases on a 36-meter-long and 10-meter-wide field.

A player is eliminated when struck by a teammate's or one's own snowball.

At the end of the 3-minute competition, held between two seven-player teams, the team with the most remaining players at the end or the team that first captures the opponent's flag wins.

Organizers also invited an AI robot to help players transport snowballs and place the flags, arousing applause from the audience.

"This kind of competition is easy to spread among the students due to its simple and interesting rules," said Meng Shu, a PE teacher at the institute. "The competition can not only help students experience the happiness brought by ice and snow sports, but also enhance their physique and teamwork ability and promote ice and snow culture on campus."