  Hot channels (HCs), high temperature erupting structures in the lower corona
of the Sun, have been proposed as a proxy of magnetic flux ropes (MFRs) since
their initial discovery. However, it is difficult to make definitive proof
given the fact that there is no direct measurement of magnetic field in the
corona. An alternative way is to use the magnetic field measurement in the
solar wind from in-situ instruments. On 2012 July 12, an HC was observed prior
to and during a coronal mass ejection (CME) by the AIA high-temperature images.
The HC is invisible in the EUVI low-temperature images, which only show the
cooler leading front (LF). However, both the LF and an ejecta can be observed
in the coronagraphic images. These are consistent with the high temperature and
high density of the HC and support that the ejecta is the erupted HC. In the
meanwhile, the associated CME shock was identified ahead of the ejecta and the
sheath through the COR2 images, and the corresponding ICME was detected by
\textit{ACE}, showing the shock, sheath and magnetic cloud (MC) sequentially,
which agrees with the coronagraphic observations. Further, the MC contained a
low-ionization-state center and a high-ionization-state shell, consistent with
the pre-existing HC observation and its growth through magnetic reconnection.
All of these observations support that the MC detected near the Earth is the
counterpart of the erupted HC in the corona for this event. Therefore, our
study provides strong observational evidence of the HC as an MFR.
