Young soldiers in northeastern China were snapped training in minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Their fur hats and coats became frosty in the icy weather in Heilongjiang, making them look like the Terracotta Warriors, said Sina News.
The Terracotta Warriors, or the Terracotta Army, are life size sculptures found in the tomb of China’s first emperor Qin Shihuang.
The soldiers were new recruits for a border defence unit. They ran five kilometres and did other exercises in the cold including sit-ups and hand wrestling.
Winter arrived earlier than normal in parts of northern China this year while the southern part of the country remains unusually warm.
Beijing saw its first snow this winter on November 6, 23 days earlier than last year, Chinese digital media The Paper reported. Meanwhile, clothing retailers in the southern coastal province of Fujian found it hard to sell winter clothes because many are still wearing short-sleeves in November, local media reported.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said earlier this year that a record strong El Nino was expected to bring unusual weather to many parts of the world.
