Ice pickers maneuver a saw trolley to cut blocks from the frozen Songhua River in Harbin, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, on Thursday.

With the city in the background, a lone worker ploughs through ice on the Songhua River.

An ice picker drives his machine to cut into the Songhua River which is frozen from November until March.

The sun casts stark blue shadows of an ice picker at work on Songhua River in Harbin.

Ice blocks collected from the river will be delivered to Harbin Ice and Snow World where they will be carved into sculptures for the annual festival.