World News for Students of English

09-01-2015 15:00

The ice fishing festival continues in Northeast China’s Jilin Province.

Nearly 100,000 people are flocking to Chagan Lake to buy fish, an auspicious symbol of a prosperous new year in China.

The two-month-long annual festival usually harvests over 1 million kilograms of fish every year. Customers are welcome to pick up and buy the fish just out from under the ice, with some weighing as heavy as 15 kilograms.

The first fish which is believed to embody the best luck was auctioned with a record high of 370,000 yuan, which is about 60,000 US dollars.

Chaken Lake stretches an area of over 500 square kilometres. It’s the only area in China which still sees traditional Mongolian ice fishing. Different from modern fishing, local fishermen cut into the thick ice and cast their long nets deep into the freezing water, just like their ancestors did over 1000 years ago.

Difficult words: flock (to go in large numbers), auspicious (lucky), annual (once a year), harvest (to give), embody (to symbolise), traditional (according to custom), cast (to throw), ancestor (a member of your family who lived a long time ago).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com