CHANGCHUN: A winter fishing-themed tourist festival opened on Monday at Chagan Lake, one of China’s largest freshwater lakes, to celebrate the local centuries-old tradition of ice fishing. The annual event officially kicked off on Monday morning after a grand opening ceremony, during which local fishermen and women prayed for the blessings of Mother Nature and used a traditional technique to catch this winter’s first batch of fish. Nearly 10,000 tourists from around the country attended the ceremony, though temperatures dipped below minus 20 degrees Celsius on the lake’s frozen surface. For centuries, fishermen and women living by the lake in Songyuan City, northeast China’s Jilin Province, have kept alive the tradition of ice fishing — hand-drilling holes through thick ice and placing nets beneath to catch fish. – Agencies
