Winter fishing-themed festival kicks off in Jixi, NE China's Heilongjiang

Aerial photo shows the winter fishing-themed festival at Xingkai Lake in Jixi city, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo/Sun Yunge)

A winter fishing-themed festival kicked off at Xingkai Lake in Jixi city, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Jan. 16, attracting throngs of visitors from home and abroad.

At the festival’s opening ceremony, nearly 1,000 performers danced to recreate the fishing and hunting scenes on the shores of Xingkai Lake thousands of years ago. They showcased various rituals such as drumming and igniting the holy fire, and performed a lake worship ceremony, and fishing chants. One of the exciting scenes was dozens of fishermen pulling a huge net more than 1,500 meters long out of ice.

Photo shows freshly caught fish at the winter fishing-themed festival at Xingkai Lake in Jixi city, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo/Hao Jiyan)

"We set the net in the center of the lake last night. We used a 5-inch net to catch the big fish and let small ones through, which allows the small fish to grow for sustainable fishing. This helps protect the fishery resources of the lake," said Fu Lisen, a leading fisherman, who has been fishing at the lake for more than 30 years.

Over 35,000 kilograms of fish were caught. The largest one, which weighed 26 kilograms, was sold at an auction for a staggering price of 999,000 yuan ($138,814).

Photo shows visitors at the winter fishing-themed festival at Xingkai Lake in Jixi city, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo/Wei Bo)

"It was absolutely stunning! I have never seen winter fishing before. It is my first time to see so many fish. I'm so excited," said Emily, a Russian tourist, adding that she and her family made a special trip from Russia to experience the winter fishing.

Photo shows freshly caught fish at the winter fishing-themed festival at Xingkai Lake in Jixi city, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo/Wang Nina)