Participants like Chen Xia and Yu Xiaofeng testify to the numerous health benefits of winter swimming, citing the sport's long history in Harbin. They claim it enhances both physical well-being and ...

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. A woman looks out from a changing room as she prepares to swim in the frozen Songhua river in Harbin in ...

They first had to carve out a pool in the Songhua River, thawing the 10-centimeter (4-inch) thick ice that froze overnight. Then they stripped down and, one by one, plunged into the bone-chilling ...

The frigid swim was the culmination of a year of daily training. (AP Video shot by Caroline Chen and Olivia Zhang) Residents watch a woman jump into a pool carved from ice on the frozen Songhua river ...

23, 2025. Harbin has emerged as one of the country's top winter travel destinations, attracting visitors from around the globe. As the city's iconic landmark, the Harbin Ice-Snow World, with this year ...

7, 2025. Credit: AP/Andy Wong Harbin resident Yu Xiaofeng said that winter swimming in her city can be dated back to the 1970s, after locals saw Russian Orthodox faithful being baptized in the river.

Yu Xiaofeng leaps as she jumps into a pool carved from ice on the frozen Songhua river in Harbin in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) ...

“But it still made me feel blissful." Harbin resident Yu Xiaofeng said that winter swimming in her city can be dated back to the 1970s, after locals saw Russian Orthodox faithful being baptized ...