VX2000 in Cold Weather?
 

Tomorrow, I am going to Harbin, China to view the winter Ice Festival.
Temperatures in Harbin during are around -14 Celsius. At night (when
the ice sculptures are lit up), temperatures go as low as -25 Celsius. I've
got my VX2000 with me, but stupidly gave no thought to the temperature when I packed for this trip (Harbin is but one stop along the way). The camera has a minimum operating temperature of 0 Celsius.

Any ideas on how I can get away with videotaping the Ice Festival? I
suppose, if it came to it, I could keep the camera under my coat (or, at least, the batteries) and take it out for shots, but that would be inconvenient (and would make me very cold). I've got my camera rain cape with me, but it's an Ewa Marine vinyl cape and would offer no cold protection, though it would keep the wind off. Would wrapping the camera with towels under the rain cape help?

Any practical suggestions (trying to locate an electric camera blanket in
the middle of rural China is not practical, even if I could afford to buy
one) would be welcome -- I've come too far to miss this great travel
videography opportunity.

If you can get your hands on chemical hand warmers, you know the type, you open the package and it starts warming up because it is now getting oxygen. Tape one to your battery to keep it warm. I would think the rest of the camera would be fine as long as condensation is kept out of it. We do that with still cameras when shooting in the cold.

That's the only idea I have.

Duane