Record low icy temperatures and massive snowfall have caused misery for many people in China's north but for some the weather has spurned an unusual form of entertainment.
Cars and ice are normally a bad mix. But here in China's frost bitten Heilongjiang province in the north east of the country, speeding around a frozen lake in an SUV is a popular pastime.
And hundreds of drivers from 10 different countries have been taking part in this year's Ice Car Racing competition held here in Heilongjiang.
They've been tearing up the ice and showing off their skidding skills to those brave enough to stand the freezing temperatures.
Although it may not be on the list of sports in the winter Olympics, 'Polar bear swimming' has become an increasingly popular winter event for many residents of northern Chinese. Residents who have come to love taking the plunge into sub-zero waters look forward to winter to practice their seasonal activity.
The annual "Polar Bear" swimming season is well under way in China's northeastern city of Harbin. The two-day contest has again prompted hundreds of brave swimmers from all over the country to plunge into a freezing swimming pool carved out of ice from the Songhua river.
The inauguration of the tallest building on Earth - the newly re-named Burj Khalifa in Dubai – in the midst of almost worldwide instability in property prices – could seem like flying in the face of logic.
At the opening ceremony, which revealed the building's 2,700 foot height for the first time, the developers tried to put a brave face on things. But in the midst of Dubai's financial and property crisis, values of many of the luxury apartments have dropped by 50% or more.
Many proud Chinese net users were a little upset at the desert skyscraper's record-breaking height – the next three names on the tallest buildings list after all are the Taipei 101 tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Hong Kong International Commerce Center.
But with the property crash and Dubai's financial troubles the tone of those comments has changed. Our researcher Jackie Wen has been following the chat online and joins us now from the news room.