Trip across Jilin

cctv.com 02-16-2005 14:15

It's another freezing winter, but the best way to fight the cold is to embrace it. We're here in the northeastern province of Jilin, and we're going to take a ride across the snowy landscape.

It's an exciting journey across the vast snowy landscape of Jilin. We'll start our journey from Chagan Lake in the northwest of the province, and make our way through Changchun, the provincial capital, and Jilin City, and on to Changbai Mountain, before ending up in Hunchun, a little city on the border of China, Russia and the DPRK.

Can you believe it? I'm actually on a huge lake. It's Chagan Lake, and in winter, its waters turn into one big piece of ice. The ice can be two feet thick. And what's even more unbelievable is that people can actually catch fish from beneath the ice. Before they start, they hold a little ritual; it's called the Waking the Lake Ceremony.

Fair enough. Before you take something away from the lake, you should pay your respects. Clearly, the ceremony is a chance to say thanks. The people living around Chagan Lake are mostly Mongolians, and they are followers of the Yellow Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. This explains the presence of the lamas at the ceremony. Sometimes, it can be very dangerous, catching fish in winter, and that's what this little ritual is all about 鈥appeasing the might of Nature. When the ceremony's over, the boys share some wine to raise their spirits. Then it's off to the lake for some fishing. You would never imagine that fishing could be such a solemn act.

Now we're going to see how they set the net on the lake.

Here, they still use the traditional means of transport 鈥a huge sled pulled by horses. There's a sense of something primitive in the air as we skate over the vast, and seemingly endless, lake.

So, this is the net you're going to use for the fishing? How big is it? Is that one net?

No, this is only half of it. Two of these nets make one big one. It's 500 metres long.