(Local fishermen hold a ritual to offer a sacrifice to the lake god before they begin winter fishing on December 27, 2005. Photo: sina.com.cn)

More than 360 people took part in traditional winter fishing on Chagan Lake in northeastern part of Jilin Province on Tuesday, setting a new record in Guinness Records for its scale.
  
Yi De, a representative from the Shanghai Great World Guinness Book of Records center, granted a certificate to the government of Qian Gorlos Mongolian Autonomous County, where the lake is located.
  
The traditional winter fishing requires close cooperation among fishermen, who arrange themselves in groups of sixty.
  
Six groups took part in Tuesday's fishing, harvesting of more than 4,000 kilograms of fish, according to the county government.
  
Winter fishing on ice-covered Chagan Lake dates back to the Liao and Jin dynasties from 10th century to the 13th century. Emperors at that time used to come to the lake to fishing and hold fish head banquets.
  
Today, local fishermen must hold a ritual to offer a sacrifice to the lake god before they begin winter fishing
  
Chagan lake (White Lake in Mongolian), covering an area of 230 square kms, is the ninth largest freshwater lake in China and is home to some 70 species of fish.

(Source: Xinhua)