Winter fishing-themed festival opens at NE China's Chagan Lake

The 21st Chagan Lake Fishing and Hunting Cultural Tourism Festival kicked off on Wednesday at Chagan Lake, in Songyuan City of Northeast China's Jilin province, with thousands of tourists witnessing the spectacle of fish leaping over the water.

The first catch of the fishing season set an auction record of 1,699,999 yuan (243,779.86 U.S. dollars) at the opening ceremony of the festival on the frozen Chagan Lake.

This year's winter fishing will last two months.

Chagan Lake is one of China's largest freshwater lakes with abundant fishery resources. For centuries, the locals living by Chagan Lake have kept alive the tradition of ice fishing by hand-drilling holes through the thick ice and casting nets into the icy waters to catch fish.