Winter fishing at Chagan Lake
- By Jason Lee
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 19, 2016
The Nenjiang River joins the Songhuajiang River in the west of Jilin Province in northeast China. Not far from the west bank of the Songhuajiang River is Chagan Lake, China's seventh largest freshwater lake. Nearby lives the world's oldest fishing and hunting tribe that has maintained a winter fishing tradition for more than 1,000 years.
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The winter fishing at Chagan Lake. [Photo: China Daily] |
Everything in the village seem related to fishing. In the yards and on the roofs fishing nets area spread. The paper-cuts for window and door decoration mostly have a fish theme. Even the children's bags are embroidered with fish patterns.
The villagers believe the lake is miraculous and intelligent, and there are plenty of legends and fairytales about it. The "holy lake" has nurtured villagers for many generations. It is said that 210 tons of fish were once caught in one net during a winter fishing expedition. In return for this bounty, the villagers attach great significance to protecting the ecology and environment of the lake region.
They drill holes in the ice surface at positions carefully chosen by experienced fishermen, and drop down a big fishing net more than two kilometers long into the water. The net is then dragged across the lake beneath the ice surface with horses. The size of the mesh is carefully calculated to ensure some fish can escape from the net smoothly, so as to maintain ecological balance in the lake.
The actual process of the winter fishing is more ceremonious than this description suggests. The villagers choose a certain auspicious day in the lunar calendar, offer sacrifice to the lake and "wake up" the fishing net, appreciating nature's generosity.
The winter fishing season lasts about 40 days. The experienced fishermen judge where fish will head for every day and then drill more than 400 holes spaced every 60 meters for dropping the net to "besiege" the fish. The ice surface is about half meter thick, and the fishermen can see the movement of the fishing net below the surface. It takes several hours to thread the whole net into the water through the holes, and then spread it out using horsepower.
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