Low temperature is one of the major factors limiting rice productivity. Identification, exploration and utilization of the existing elite cold-tolerant rice germplasm resources is supposed to be the most practical and economical approach to breeding for cold-tolerant rice varieties to reduce the adverse effects of chilling damage on rice productivity. In this study, one cold-tolerant rice germplasm SH5 derived from Oryza meyeriana was identified by screening for the rice plants that planted in suitable season can live through the winter season in the field and will germinate in the following spring. The result of the cold treatment at 0°C showed that the overwintering trait of SH5 wasn’t corrected with the cold tolerance of the aboveground plant of the SH5; the field observation of overwintering trait indicated that it was the stem which was near and below the surface that had the characterization of overwintering trait; the germinated SH5 rice plant in the spring has the similar agricultural trait of the SH5 rice plant planted in suitable season. The identification of the cold-tolerant rice germplasm SH5 would provide a valuable rice germplasm for breeding elite cultivars with cold tolerance.