Anyone seen my rubber ring? The world's most crowded swimming pool

Someone floated the idea and they all went with it.

But once in the water, trying to swim a few lengths was suddenly out of the question.

In fact, there was treading room only when thousands of swimmers crowded into a pool in Penglai in Sichuan, western China.

Water crowd: China's swimming pools are hugely popular

Families are gradually returning to the area after May's devastating earthquake-In one of the world's most populous countries, the fact there was no elbow room in the pool was not going to stop the fun.

But despite their collection of colourful rubber rings, the swimmers couldn't float about for too long.



The resort has become popular with China's rising middle class who take day-trips to the scenic spot.



Government officials say the increase in tourists is due to it now being safe to return to the Sichuan area after the devastating earthquake in May.



Official figures say around 70,000 people died in the natural disaster, which left 4.8 million people homeless. It is the biggest natural disaster to hit China since 1976.







