Sixty eight-year-old You Wenfeng is braving the icy Chinese winter.
She's part of a small ethnic minority who live on a river known in China as the Black Dragon, hugging the Russian border.
According to legend, they descend from mermaids.
But that's not all the Hezhen are known for.
For generations, the Hezhen people have passed down an ancient craft:
Making clothes from fish.
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) YOU WENFENG, 68, SAYING:
"You don't discover anything about the fish skin if you are just eating it as food. […] If you dry it then you'll see, there's a kind of fiber at the back of the skin that looks like the criss-cross web pattern. So, it's the texture that keeps the skin from wear and tear."
It was You's mother who taught her the ancient technique.
She's now one of the few Hezhen women left who are keeping this legacy alive.
First she skins the fish.
And once it's been dried she kneads it in a wooden press, softening the skin into a leather.
It takes around 50 fish to create a top and trouser suit.
And around two months to put it all together.
But no one in You's family have learnt the special skill.
And while she's teaching her craft to a handful of local women, this years-old tradition risks vanishing into the history books:
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) YOU WENFENG, 68, SAYING:
"My mum tried so hard to bring it from old society to the new society, and the skill was preserved even when the Hezhen people were almost extinct. How can I not be worried? That's why I'll teach whoever comes to learn."
Fish leather has inspired luxury brands like Dior and Prada.
But here in deep rural China - it's more ingrained in the Hezhen's unique culture, language and song.
One that some fear is at risk of dying out.