Having an ice time

Despite the extremely cold weather, the frozen lake at the Qunli Lilac Park in Harbin, the capital city of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province is bustling with excitement.

Every autumn, staff members at the park fill the lake with water, and as the temperature drops, it turns into a natural ice rink.

Nearby residents flock to the park to skate and slide around, calling it their "winter wonderland", and the ongoing 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin have further ignited local residents' passion for winter sports.

This winter, Harbin has fully utilized parks, squares, public institutions, universities and natural bodies of water to produce public ice rinks, ensuring that residents and visitors can participate in outdoor winter activities.

In Harbin, physical education classes in schools revolve around winter sports. Some schools have built ice rinks on their playgrounds, allowing children to enjoy the fun of ice and snow sports without having to leave the school grounds.