In ancient times, people made ice mainly by using the cold weather conditions in winter and setting up special facilities outdoors or indoors to make ice cubes.

In the cold winter, you can dig a shallow pit in an outdoor pond or pool, pour water into the pit and leave it for a few days to wait for the water surface to solidify. After the water surface solidifies, you can smash the ice cubes with an axe or hammer, take them out and put them in a special icehouse or storage room for preservation.

Indoor ice making usually adopts containers such as wooden barrels or clay pots, into which water is poured, and then placed in the shade indoors to wait for the water surface to solidify. This method usually needs to add a small amount of salt, lime or straw to promote the solidification of water surface and reduce the melting speed of ice. After the water surface solidifies, you can use tools such as hammer to smash the ice into a proper size, and then put it into a special icehouse or storage room for preservation.

The underground icehouse is a special facility used by ancient people to preserve ice cubes. It usually excavates a deep pit in the underground of a hillside or mound, places ice cubes at the bottom of the pit, and then seals it with materials such as straw to keep the temperature and humidity low. This method can effectively maintain the quality and taste of ice cubes, so that they can be preserved for a long time.

Preservation methods of ancient ice cubes

1. Snow cellar: build a deep pit on the top of the mountain or hillside, enclose it with stones and mud, then open a small hole at the top, with the hole facing north, then spread clear mountain spring water in the hole, and then spread a layer of wheat straw or straw after the water freezes, and finally put the items to be preserved on it and cover it with wheat straw or straw to keep the temperature low.

2. icehouse: It is built underground or in caves. Ice or snow can be stored in the underground or cave by using the natural low temperature environment. Masonry or clay can be used for fixing and heat preservation, so as to keep the temperature low.

3. Ice house: also known as ice house, it is a method of making ice by using underground water or mountain spring water. After the water turns into ice, it can be taken out for refrigeration in summer, and the ice house can also be used to store items that need low temperature, such as food and medicine.