River helps the good times flow in northernmost province

HARBIN — As Xia Yuanfang strolled along the Songhua River with her family, she was glad of the mild northern weather, a welcome change from the hot, humid environment of her hometown in Guangdong province. "It's cool here in summer. It's comfortable drinking beer and listening to music," says Xia, who took a river tour in Harbin, capital of China's northernmost Heilongjiang province.

The river flows through Harbin and provides fishermen with rich resources. Now, it blends into modern life, featuring bars and beer in summer and ice activities in winter. It also features water sports, including some with strong historical roots. In the 1920s, motorboats and water skiing were brought to Harbin from the West, and in the '70s, the city's large enterprises would organize annual water sports competitions.

Tourism and leisure activities have flourished along the river banks, and they are even more popular during the winter.

Many locals have a special hobby in the winter — looking for fish in ice sculptures that are displayed on the street. The artistic sculptures are made of ice taken from the frozen Songhua River, and occasionally fish are entombed therein.

In ancient times, to make up for the lack of electrical lighting, buckets were used to produce shells of ice in which lights were placed. This tradition is the origin of the modern Harbin ice lantern art, with later generations producing more complex and colorful variations based on ice cubes.

In winter, the river becomes a reservoir of ice. Since the first ice lantern fair was held near the river in 1963, the city has utilized its natural resources to create a winter wonderland on the theme of ice and snow. Now, the ice lantern fair and Ice and Snow World, China's largest ice-themed park, have become key promotional events for Harbin.

Every winter, people gather in the city to see the world's famous landmarks reproduced in ice, or to play on the ice slides that measure hundreds of meters in length.

According to Guo Hongwei, chairman of Harbin Ice and Snow World, "ice and snow are becoming a hot resource".

The river also serves as a natural playground. Sun Feiyu, 36, runs a snowmobile entertainment project on the frozen river with friends. "Winter is my busiest time and there are lots of people playing here," says Sun.

The booming ice and snow economy also brings more income to farmers who used to have no work at all in winter. Now, many of them are busy gathering ice as soon as the cold weather sets in.

Zhai Yugang, a Harbin native who collects ice from the Songhua River every winter, earns more than 2 yuan ($0.28) for cutting an ice cube. During the ice-picking season, a person can cut 200 cubes a day on average. Thousands of jobs are created every year in the construction of Harbin Ice and Snow World.

"Now, more people are willing to come and participate in ice picking and other jobs to increase their incomes, and their lives in winter are more colorful," Zhai says.

Xinhua