Jiang Kedong gets the crowd dancing at the Harbin Ice and Snow World. PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
When night falls, the Harbin Ice and Snow World, a snow and ice wonderland, turns into a thrilling nightclub, with tens of thousands of people dancing along with Jiang Kedong, a local who knows how to get everyone rocking.
Dubbed "Brother Left and Right", the 39-year-old has witnessed how his hometown's fame has grown, and he became a bit of a celebrity as a performance host at last year's Harbin Ice and Snow World, a landmark theme park in the capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.
"It is my hometown that people come for, not me," Jiang said.
He added that Harbin is a fascinating city that's worth visiting.
Jiang became an auto production worker in 2006, but supplemented his income with several part-time jobs, including one as the drummer for a wedding band.
As music technology resulted in digital music replacing live bands at weddings, Jiang's drumming career fizzled out, but the experience saw him forge lasting connections within the wedding industry.
In 2011, he resigned from the auto factory to become a wedding host. It was at a wedding that he met the person in charge of performances at the Harbin Ice and Snow World, who invited him to visit the winter extravaganza.
This chance meeting marked the beginning of Jiang's association with the theme park, which grew from the Harbin Ice Lantern Festival, which started in 1963.
"My first impression of the park 12 years ago was 'wow! It's so big!'
"In the following years, I saw it become even bigger."
When there were too many visitors, fearing that they would fall, or cause a stampede, during the interactive session he would shout: "Left foot, right foot!" This earned him his odd nickname.
Over the years, Jiang has enjoyed growing success. On short-video platform Douyin, the number of people following him soared from hundreds to 3.61 million.
"Living in the ice city, I'm just like a snowflake flying in a world of ice and snow, and I hope to make a greater contribution to my hometown," he said.
