A man in Baotou, Mongolia, won a ‘lying flat’ contest by lying on a mattress without moving for 33 hours straight in one of the strangest competitions we’ve seen so far.
Forget the 100-meter dash or football; did you know there are competitive communities for just about any activity you can think of?
If you can name it, it’s probably been turned into a competition at some point. For example, there are folks who get together to compete in bed-making championships, make the best dining table displays in table-setting competitions, and even work in pairs to win grave-digging contests.
The latest competitive event raising eyebrows online comes from Baotou, Inner Mongolia, a region in China that held a ‘lying flat’ contest — and it’s exactly what it sounds like.
240 competitors gathered in a mall in Mongolia to see who could go the longest lying down on a mattress.
China stunned by contest where winner lies down the longest
The contest was organized by Chinese mattress and home-furnishings brand Sleemon. In fact, this was their third competition of this kind, which they held in a Baotou City shopping mall to presumably promote their mattresses.
240 competitors from across the region gathered together on November 15 to see who could go the longest laying on a Sleemon mattress without getting up. The contest was fairly casual; participants were allowed to turn over, use their smartphones, read books, and even order delivery.
However, they would be disqualified if they sat up or left their mattress. This includes getting up to use the bathroom, so ordering food might not have been a good idea — but according to local news reports, some competitors got around this by wearing diapers.
newsX/NFCompetitors were not allowed to sit up or leave their mattresses – but some participants got around this by wearing diapers to avoid getting up to use the bathroom.
There was no specific cutoff date for the contest to be finished, with organizers saying the ‘lying flat’ competition would continue as long as it took for the top three sleepers to be determined.
Out of the 240 entrants, one man ended up laying down for a jaw-dropping 33 hours and 35 minutes, winning the grand prize of 3,000 yuan ($422 USD) on November 16.
The second and third place winners earned 2,000 and 1,000 yuan, respectively ($281 and $140 USD).
Chinese social media lit up at the news, with many remarking that they could have laid down for far longer.
“I can lie down until the New Year!” one boasted online, with another remarking, “Finally, I can win by lying down!”
In fact, the contest became so popular that Sleemon is now considering expanding into other regions. They even live-streamed the event, reportedly garnering over 10 million views. What was once a niche marketing attempt has seemingly paid off for the brand big-time.
This isn’t the only wild Chinese content to go viral. Earlier this year, a man from central China won a 70-day wilderness challenge after surviving off rats, insects, and wild plants.
