Enthusiasm soared among about a dozen hardy swimmers during a daily ritual in northeast China’s “ice city” of Harbin even as the mercury dropped well below freezing

Decked in thick winter jackets, dozens of people stood in subzero temperature next to a pool at Harbin in China’s northernmost province of Heilongjiang on Sunday (January 5), waiting to watch members of a local swim team to take their plunge into the icy water.

Even as the mercury dropped well below freezing, enthusiasm soared among about a dozen hardy swimmers during a daily ritual in northeast China’s “ice city” of Harbin. The swimmers trained daily throughout the year for this.