The 9th Chagan Lake Winter Fishing Festival began Wednesday and will continue for a month. Winter fishing is one of most important and famous activities on Chagan Lake in Jilin's Songyuan city, which has a history of over 1,000 years.

Chagan originally means "holy water" in Mongolian, and the lake's fine water quality makes it a heaven for fish and shrimp. Although fishing here can bring significant monetary benefits, locals still choose an old-fashioned and eco-friendly method to maintain the fish population. The stewardship to protect the environment has been passed down from generation to generation.

Winter means hard work but hefty rewards for local fishermen, who dig holes on the frozen fishing area after first observing the bubbles to pinpoint likely fish stocks. In the morning, they cast a 2,000-meter-long net into the water, and then winch up the net through the ice holes at noon.

However, the net doesn't ruthlessly capture every creature as it expands. The mesh size is large enough to allow younger fish to swim through, and thus makes it sustainable fishing, according to Shan Junguo, the owner of Chagan Lake Fishery. He points out that the average fish caught weights around 2.5kg. In 2005, the net caught a record 104,500 kg of fish in a single cast, and in 2008 that record was broken by a catch of 168,000 kg.

It would be assumed that pulling the massive net would require some kind of machine, but horses remain the optimal choice of locals. Shan explained that a machine would create noise and subsequently scare the fish.

Since Chagan Lake's fish are reputed for their taste, the winter catch brings huge profit to the local fishery – with the average price as high as 80 yuan per kilogram. Each year, the Chagan Lake fishery catches more than 6,000 tons.

As soon as the fish jump on the ice, they're for sale. Locals traditionally buy fish for the New Year. Also, the "green" fish is a recognized specialty by the local government and is frozen and sold to other provinces.

The first big fish caught, called the "head fish" by locals, is auctioned off at a good price. This year, it sold for 280,000 yuan after the opening ceremony on Dec. 29.

Winter fishing was listed as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2008. The ancient tradition attracts many tourists each year and makes the lake a popular destination in winter, which plays a significant role in stimulating the local economy. In 2009, the tourism generated 61 million yuan for the area.