Kurt Groetsch @ OldTasty.com

It’s cold in Beijing these days, though not as cold as it should be — it’s been an unseasonably warm winter, with only a few bitter cold days, and no snow to speak of since Thanksgiving. But it’s still cold enough to freeze most of the canals and lakes around town, including Houhai (literally translated, it means “back lake”) where I took the photo above. This guy was zooming around on a homemade “mono-skate” contraption, and was having a blast, totally oblivious to the line of people watching him at the edge of the lake.