The only thing better than hauling fish out of a frozen lake in the dead of winter is hauling fish out of a frozen lake in the dead of winter with a crowd of people cheering you on. Welcome to the third Dali Lake Fishing Festival.

Meant to invoke a bountiful harvest in the new year, the festival takes place on the iced over Dali lake in the Hexingten region of Inner Mongolian. And, bountiful it is, with schools of fish laid out in the sun, stretching far into the distance, flopping around and gasping for their first, and likely, last breath, of chilled winter air.

The festival lasts until the end of January, during which time the local authorities expect fisherman to catch more than 770 tons of fish like crucian carp.

In addition to basic net-aided fishing, this one-of-a-kind winter festival features a kick-off sacrificial ceremony in which masked participants dance around flaming pyres of wood.

And, despite taking place in a semi-isolated frozen wilderness, the fishy festival even manages to attract tourists. In fact, the local authorities expect roughly 1,000 visitors during the festival this year. For these rugged adventurers, nothing spells vacation quite like frozen fish sticks.

During last year's Beijing Olympics, the unforgettable opening and closing ceremonies of the Games were held at the National Stadium or "Bird's Nest".But since then bringing in enough cash to maintain the venue has been a problem.

The Bird's Nest was the focus of worldwide attention during the Olympics.Now, artificial snowmakers have transformed this symbol of the Beijing Games into a winter sports park, where visitors can enjoy winter activities such as skiing and snowboarding.

The cost of this winter wonderland in the northern suburbs of Beijing – and associated maintenance - is a cool 7 million dollars. But the admission of about 18 dollars - not a small amount for an average Beijinger - doesn't seem to have put off this local.

Staying Warm For Winter