Intro:

Hardy souls from across China, and further afield, take the plunge in Harbin each year for a spot of ice swimming in the Songhua River.

Script:

Hardy souls from across China, and even further afield, have taken their annual plunge in Harbin for a spot of ice swimming in the Songhua River.

With temperatures at a not so balmy minus 25 degrees Celcius, the swimmers weren't daunted by the icy flags, hand rails and snowy ground.

Instead, it seemed that the severely cold northern winter was cheering them up rather than giving them cold feet.

Jumping into the water without hesitation, they drew on all of their energy reserves to make a quick dash towards the finishing line.

The pool is 25 metres long, and swimmers have to be in and out of it in less than two minutes to prevent them getting too cold.