Merry Christmas for pandas! Of course in China's southwestern Yunnan province, pandas are experiencing Christmas a little differently—— they have got bamboo shoots standing in for Christmas trees... and Jingle bells are edible.

 Christmas pandas

And they don't have snow. But this kid predicts that they will love their Christmas gifts, that come in green.

World of ice and snow

Harbin's highly artistic Ice and Snow World has just started its trial run. And as always, it is worth braving the extreme cold for some crystal clear shots... But be prepared, there are some 200 thousand cubic meters of chilling ice around. 

Extreme swimming

It's already minus twenty degrees Celcius in Inner Mongolia. But stripping clean... And then dipping into this chiselled pond of ice water is still something these 200 swimmers are prepared to do, for fun .. and good health! Participants say the secret to braving this inhumane cold is: Just be brave.