The ice bed that the emperor rode on was very different from the ice bed of ordinary people. The style of the Qing Dynasty court ice bed is quite fancy and very luxurious.

Around the seats, there is a metal bed shed supported by several pillars, and on the right side of the shed there is a car door with a glass window. Around the metal roof, there are also carved pointed shapes, and the spine of the shed is decorated with a golden dragon. At the bottom of the ice bed shed, a well-made frame slide is also designed. Ordinary ice beds can be driven by only one "ice coachman", but this kind of special ice bed made by the royal family has to be pulled by eight eunuchs to move forward.

This is not so much an ice bed as an eight-lift sedan chair for ice surfaces. Those who take this kind of luxurious ice bed are often dignitaries, although they have a good time, but they do not sympathize with the hard work of the "ice drivers". There is such a record in "Dream of Red Mansions": "The errand people, closing the door, getting up early and going to bed late, heavy rain and snow, girls going in and out, carrying sedan chairs, supporting boats, pulling ice beds, and all the heavy work are their messengers." ”

Since it is a miscellaneous work that is equal to heavy manual labor such as carrying a sedan chair and supporting a boat, it can be seen that pulling an ice bed is a rather heavy job. But no matter how heavy the work is, someone has to do it. Many people in Beijing are struggling to make a living, so they will work as ice drivers on cold days to earn some money for the New Year. This kind of business is quite similar to the rickshaw driver in the past. Due to the limitation of the ice bed by the climatic conditions, the ice drivers often work only for one winter, and when the ice surface thaws in the beginning of spring, they will be unemployed.

According to the literature, it was not until the fifties of the last century that the business of pulling ice beds withdrew from the stage of history. Sun Li's "Baiyangdian Chronicle and Instructions" wrote: "By the river, they went up to the ice bed. Shui Sheng sat up, held the child, and wrapped her feet in an overcoat. The woman stood at the back of the bed and propped up the rod. Women are good at holding ice beds. Later, with the advent of the Republic of China, Beihai changed from a royal private garden to a public park that everyone could visit, and the ice bed became a popular entertainment activity for the common people.

To this day, there are still many adults and children paddling on the ice in the North Sea in winter. It's just that they don't need to make a living from it, it's just for fun.