A meal of fire and ice - hotpot served on frozen river

TAIYUAN - Hotpot lovers now have a cool place to enjoy the popular winter dish - on ice. Traditional Chinese copper hotpot meals are now being served on frozen Laoniuwan, a section of the Yellow River at the juncture of Shanxi province and Inner Mongolia autonomous region in North China.

A maximum of 15 people can sit and dine around the largest pots, which have a diameter of 1.2 meters and a height of 1.5 meters, said Guo Xin, marketing director of Puhui, a tourist company in Pianguan county, Shanxi.

Guo said the temperature has been below -10 C, and the river ice is around 60 centimeters thick, which is safe for the diners.