Songyuan in NE China's Jilin promotes integration of culture, tourism

Recently, the 24th Chagan Lake Ice and Snow Fishing and Hunting Cultural Tourism Festival opened in Songyuan, northeast China's Jilin Province.

Located primarily on the northwest corner of Songyuan, Chagan Lake is one of China's 10 largest freshwater lakes. The lake's winter fishing was also listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008, standing as an age-old tradition practiced since the Liao and Jin Dynasties (907-1234).

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 7, 2026 shows visitors watching ice fishing on the ice-covered Chagan Lake in Songyuan, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Xinhua/Yan Linyun)

In recent years, local authorities have strengthened the protection and preservation of the fishing culture, attracting numerous tourists each year to witness winter fishing and experience folk customs.

Ma Wenyan, who has led the winter fishing team at the Chagan Lake fishery in Qian Gorlos Mongol Autonomous County, Songyuan, since 2021, said that a leader must first master the skill of carefully examining the ice to select the best spot to catch fish.

"The gathering of fish usually creates a discernible swell of water underneath the ice, along with a slight elevation of the snow on the ice. This shows the location of the fish," said Zhang Wen. Zhang is the 20th-generation winter fishing team leader at the Chagan Lake fishery and a national representative inheritor of Chagan Lake's winter fishing.

Ma began working on the ice as a teenager, starting with odd jobs like drilling holes and collecting fish. He learned winter fishing techniques by observing Zhang and other seasoned fishermen. "Winter fishing leaders teach anyone willing to learn," Ma said.

"Winter fishing culture encompasses more than techniques. The most important values are cooperation for mutual benefit, the well-measured use of natural resources, and respect for nature," Ma added.

In 2003, work began on the application for intangible cultural heritage status. The team, led by Sun Guojun, then director of the county's cultural center, conducted research at Chagan Lake. After four years, they completed dozens of pages documenting the winter fishing process, related products, and inheritance information.

Since 2008, the county has established a management system for intangible cultural heritage inheritors, providing subsidies to qualified successors. In 2012, the Songyuan Mass Art Museum established an intangible cultural heritage department and created paper archives, electronic files, photo collections, and audiovisual records for classified preservation.

Fishermen sort out fish caught in the ice-covered Chagan Lake in northeast China's Jilin Province, Jan. 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yan Linyun)

Today, the county's intangible cultural heritage protection center has further refined the inheritance work for winter fishing, establishing 15 research projects, including horseshoe nailing and folk stories. Several items, including the Chagan Lake all-fish banquet, have been listed as provincial-level intangible cultural heritage for Jilin.

In 2024, the Chagan Lake scenic area was designated a national 5A-level tourist attraction, and the Qian Gorlos Mongol Autonomous County has fully leveraged the lake's influence, with villages surrounding the lake developing businesses such as agricultural product picking, B&B operations, and agritainment restaurants.

By the shore of Chagan Lake, Qu Limin runs an agritainment restaurant. During the winter months, Qu's business serves dozens of tables of guests daily, generating an annual income of around 300,000 yuan (about $43,048).

This year, local authorities have created the Tengyu Ice and Snow Paradise, covering 230,000 square meters, and launched a series of ice and snow entertainment projects that can accommodate 3,000 visitors, as well as supporting ice-fishing camps for tourists. A 70,000-square-meter ice lake ski resort features five snow slopes measuring 388 meters in length and one beginner slope.

Thanks to a promotional campaign, all visitors from outside Songyuan can visit highly rated scenic spots for free by presenting their airplane, high-speed rail, or intercity train tickets. From Jan. 8, 2026, through the end of the winter fishing festival, free shuttle buses will operate from downtown Songyuan to Chagan Lake, subject to availability and visitor demand.

At Songyuan Dingrun Culture Co., Ltd., Xu Cui, a representative inheritor of the Chagan Lake fish-skin craft, explains the production process of fish-skin painting to several tourists.

Fish-skin paintings are among the products from Chagan Lake, and their themes primarily focus on fishing and hunting culture. At first, fishermen made clothing from fish skin; later, people used it to create pendants, ornaments, and other daily necessities.

From fish-skin paintings of "Bing Dwen Dwen" and "Shuey Rhon Rhon," mascots for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, displayed at the Beijing Winter Olympics Village's intangible cultural heritage exhibition area, to more than 1,000 cultural and creative products, including fish-skin earrings and carved fish-skin hairpins, Xu's team continues to enhance innovation and the inheritance of fish-skin craft. They have also established an intangible cultural heritage workshop, conducting traditional handicraft training to drive employment and income growth for local villagers.

"As Chagan Lake's winter fishing gains fame and attracts more tourists, fish-skin paintings have received greater attention," Xu said, adding that they plan to incorporate more Songyuan cultural elements into fish-skin craft production to give visitors a deeper insight into the local fishing and hunting culture and Songyuan itself.

Songyuan has 11 national-level intangible cultural heritage items and multiple provincial-level items, such as the Chagan Lake fish-skin craft.

For this year's new snow season, Songyuan has also deeply explored cultural elements such as fishing, hunting, and folk customs, creating five major urban scenes in the main city area, including the Chagan winter fishing carnival and an intangible cultural heritage market.