(MENAFN- Live Mint) A 23-year-old man in China has become the winner of an unusual“lying-flat competition”. He stayed on a mattress for an impressive 33 hours and 35 minutes.

Most participants wore diapers to avoid disqualification. Around 240 people entered. But, 186 quit within the first day. After more than 33 hours, only three contestants remained. The young man who lasted the longest was declared the champion, according to the South China Morning Post.

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The event was held at a shopping centre in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. It was organised by a mattress brand to match the popular youth trend of“lying flat”. It refers to doing the bare minimum in response to social pressure and a tough job market.

The rules were simple. Contestants had to lie down continuously without sitting up, leaving the mattress or going to the toilet. They were allowed to read, play on their phones, turn over and even order food. As long as they remained lying down, everything was fine.

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Organisers made the contest tougher by asking the last three participants to lift their arms and legs simultaneously while still lying on their backs. The person who held the position the longest would win.

Finally, only the 23-year-old man was able to continue. The top three winners received 3,000 yuan (nearly ₹38,000), 2,000 yuan (around ₹25,000) and 1,000 yuan (about ₹12,500).

He said his girlfriend had sent him a link to the competition and encouraged him to participate. He admitted he had not done much preparation.

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He felt like quitting in the middle of the contest. But, his girlfriend urged him to continue, which motivated him to push through.

“I will use the money to treat my friends to a hotpot dinner. They came to see me last night, bringing me food and drinks, mid-competition,” SCMP quoted the winner as saying.

Live-streaming goes viral

Many social media users in China were intrigued to know if the event would be held in other cities. The live-streaming of the event went viral and garnered 10 million views. There were around 8 million comments as well, as per the publication.

“I bet I can stay for 70 hours as long as I have got several portable chargers for my mobile phone at hand,” one of them wrote.

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