After three days of skiing Koktokay, my legs told me to take a morning off. My host in Fuyun had a better idea than resting: ‘The lake is frozen. Come fish.’ I had pictured a quiet hobby. What I got was a hole in a metre of ice, a thermos of brick tea, and two hours of the most relaxing nothing I have done in Xinjiang. If you ski the north, the frozen lakes are right there, and they are an easy, cheap counterpoint to the slopes.
Where the ice fishing actually is
Xinjiang’s two realistic spots for a visitor are both near ski country:
- Ulungur Lake (乌伦古湖), Fuyun / Fuhai — the closest to Koktokay, which is why it fitted my trip. A large lake that freezes solid, with winter fishing that locals take seriously. The town of Fuhai sits on its edge, and the lake is a short drive from the Fuyun base town that serves Koktokay.
- Bosten Lake (博斯腾湖), near Korla — the largest inland freshwater lake in Xinjiang, with its own winter fishing festival. Further south, better as a stop if you are already in the Korla or southern loop than as a detour from Altay.
Both hold winter fishing festivals some years, where the ice gets cut into a spectacle of nets, fish, and hot food. Dates vary, so ask locally. Our skiing category maps the regions if you are sequencing a trip.
What the morning involves
You do not need skill. A local cuts the hole with a powered auger through roughly a metre of ice, drops a line or a small net, and you wait. The fish in Ulungur run to cold-water species — I watched the family pull a long pale dog fish (白斑狗鱼, a northern pike relative) and a few smaller fellows I could not name, all fried on a portable stove within minutes and eaten before they cooled. The appeal is not the catch. It is the stillness, the steam off the thermos, and the fact that for two hours nobody mentions snow reports.
I went with a family who had done this every winter for decades. They did not perform for me. They fished, drank tea, and tolerated my questions. That is the version worth having: arranged through someone local, not a staged tour. The father showed me how to hold the line and laughed when the first bite yanked my arm; the boy fed the stove without being asked. That ordinary domestic rhythm is the thing you remember.
How to actually find a local
You will not book this on a website. In Fuyun or Fuhai, ask at your guesthouse or the front desk of the hotel serving Koktokay; in the southern loop, ask in Korla. Someone’s uncle fishes. Hand over a few hundred yuan, treat it as a gift plus a tip, and show up early — mornings on the ice are colder but calmer, and the fish bite before the sun flattens the light. Bring your own thermos; the hospitality will include tea regardless, but yours is welcome.
How to add it to a ski week
The clean pairing is Koktokay plus Ulungur. Ski Koktokay for two or three days, then take a morning or afternoon off and drive to the lake from Fuyun or Fuhai. If you are on the Bosten side, it works as a rest day between Korla and the southern sights. Either way, keep it to a half day; the cold is the same cold that makes the skiing good, and standing still on ice is colder than riding a lift.
Dress exactly as you would for the mountain’s worst day, then add a layer, because you are not moving. I wore my ski base layers and was still glad of the extra fleece. The blog has a packing piece that covers the cold-weather kit I rely on.
Safety, stated without drama
The ice on these lakes is thick in deep winter — we are talking a metre or more — but you never walk out alone or away from where locals are. River mouths and inlets freeze thinner and rot faster; stay on the tested ice near the fishing spot. A warm spell in late winter thins things and shuts the fishing for safety, which is exactly when you should not push it. Fall through river ice and you are in serious trouble fast, so the rule is simple: go with the person who knows the lake, and stay where they stand.
Honest limitations
This is not adrenaline. If you need motion, skip it. It is also weather-bound: a warm spell thins the ice and closes the fishing for safety. And it requires a local hand — you will not rent gear and wander out alone, nor should you. Pay the person who takes you, treat it as a favour plus a tip, and do not expect an English-speaking operation.
There is also a conservation angle. Some Xinjiang waters have closed seasons to protect stocks, and a responsible operator respects them. If someone offers fishing in a spot that looks off-limits, pass. The point is a quiet local tradition, not a trophy photo.
Why I recommend it anyway
A ski trip to Xinjiang is physically demanding and logistically heavy. The frozen lake is the one excursion that asks nothing of you but time. For a rest day that still feels like the place, it is near-perfect, and it costs almost nothing. If your week is tight on skiing, skip it; if you have a spare morning near Fuyun or Fuhai, it is the most Xinjiang thing you can do standing still.
What the catch becomes
Part of the appeal is the kitchen. The family fried the pike I helped land within minutes of pulling it, dusted in a little flour, crisped in oil on the portable stove, and passed it around still too hot to hold. There is no restaurant version that touches fish cooked like this, on the ice, within sight of the hole. If your host offers to cook what you catch, say yes, and bring a little something to share — a bag of oranges, a pack of cigarettes, a flask of something stronger if that is the custom in your group. The meal is the point as much as the fishing.
Bringing children along
This is one of the few off-slope winter activities I would call genuinely family-friendly, provided the kids are dressed for the cold and have the attention span for sitting. Mine lasted about forty minutes before the novelty of the hole wore off, then spent the rest of the time chasing each other on the ice under close watch. The locals thought that was hilarious. If you are skiing Koktokay with children and want a half-day that is not another lift ride, the lake is a good reset, and the cost is low enough that a short attention span does not feel like wasted money.
The one that got away
I should be honest about the letdown rate. Most holes produce a slow bite or none, and the romantic version where you haul up dinner is the exception, not the rule. Go for the morning and the stillness, treat any fish as a bonus, and you will not be disappointed. The day I went, the family pulled maybe four fish across two hours among three holes — enough to fry, not enough to brag. That ratio is normal, and it is fine.
Questions about timing or a local contact? The contact page is the fastest way to reach us, and we can point you to a reliable hand on the lake.