China Liu Yantao and six workers worked on the edge of an ice pit several meters deep on the Tung Hoa River, but nobody wore a life jacket.

Liu and his team are among more than 100 ice miners on the Tung Hoa River in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China. This year, they will exploit 170,000 cubic meters of ice, enough to fill 70 Olympic-sized swimming pools, to serve the annual ice festival in Harbin.

Every year, people fall into this icy river. But farmers like Liu take the risk to enlist additional income in the winter, a time when most farmers in Harbin are out of work.

Each year, the ice mining season for the ice festival usually lasts about 3 weeks. Working from early morning to late evening, Liu's team mines about 2,000 ice blocks a day. For each 1.6-meter-long rectangular block of ice and weighing 400 kilograms, they are paid 2.5 yuan (about US $ 0.35) and can earn about 500 yuan (more than US $ 71) per day. .

"We have nothing to do in the winter. People often stay at home playing mahjong. I don't like gambling, so I decided to go to work. Everything is up now, so I want to earn some extra money to cover it." life, "said Liu, a 36-year-old farmer.

Liu, now the head of an ice mining team, has been doing the job for over 10 years. Every day, they drove from a rural area of Harbin to the Tung Hoa River before 5am to start work. They used a large band saw to cut the block 190 meters wide and 220 meters long, bigger than two football fields. Next, they shred ice cubes into rectangles, then seven of the team used large hoes to separate the small ice blocks, placing them on a forklift to transfer to the waiting truck.

These workers don't talk much during the day, but they can see the breath coming out every time they open their mouths in the -18 ° C cold here. They work on the edge of ice holes several meters deep. No one in the team wore a life jacket even though there were many forklifts that had fallen into a river.

"If someone falls into the river, we will pull up right away. There is also a rope tied to the ice drill. When someone falls, we will throw it for him. Therefore, No one has drowned, "Liu said as he lit a cigarette.

Liu Zhiwen, a farmer who has worked for 20 years in ice mining, is no longer doing this job. He brought the conveyor belt conveyor here seven years ago, and now his machine does the work for three people. "Only farmers do this job. Why do farmers have to work so hard? I can't believe it," said Liu Zhiwen while sitting in the car watching the work.

Liu Yantao's team usually takes a lunch break at 11:00 after 7 o'clock. They cast nets on some carp and cook them right on the glacier. Sitting around the charcoal stove, they enjoyed fish sauce sauce with steamed bread and a little more wine to fight the cold here. They return to work after 20 minutes and only end the 12-hour workday when it is dark.

Like most ice miners, Liu does not attend the ice festival even though it is very close to where he works. With an entrance fee of up to 290 yuan ($ 41.3), or more than half a day of Liu's salary, he decided to watch the festival only on television. However, he feels proud of his work. "Ice sculpture has been a tradition in my home country for many years. If I didn't do this job, I would feel lost," Liu said.