If you are an art lover and a sucker for snow, than the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, the biggest festival of its kind in China might be the right place for you to be in January.
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| Lighted sculptures at Harbin International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival in China |
Far from child’s play and going beyond the conventional carrot-nosed snowman, snow artists from all over the world gather in Harbin every year to take part in the biggest ice and snow sculpting competition there is. They use nothing more than simple hand tools such as shovels, hatchets, and saws to transform enormous snow blocks into larger than life masterpieces of an ethereal nature.
A very nicely done video covering a day & night at Harbin Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival
Two phrases sum up Harbin International Snow and Ice Festival: Wow! and I can’t feel my toes. Harbin Ice Festival officially opens on January 5 every year and the 'hot spots' are the Ice Lantern Garden Party, the biggest artistic exhibition of ice lanterns in open air in the world, the Sun Island Scenic Area with the world's largest indoor ice and snow art museum and the Zhaolin Park where the best ice sculptures are on display.
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| Snow Santa at Harbin International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival in China |
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Harbin International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival in China |
Ice art subjects can include European castles, cathedrals, pagodas, fortresses, well-known landmarks from all over the world, animals, gardens and scenes from Chinese folklore. It's a winter wonderland! The extraordinary ice buildings at Harbin festival can be visited inside, but with great care as the steps and floors are kind of slippery. D'oh! After dark, the sculptures come alive in a dazzling display of light and colour from the thousands of tiny lights hidden within and music warms up the atmosphere. In case you were wondering, the tallest ice sculpture in the world was last year's 'Dreaming Castle' (see photo below), a 50m high sculpture that took 2,000 workers 15 days to build.
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| 'Dreaming Castle', the largest ice sculpture ever |
During the Harbin snow festival, fantastic events are held, like firework displays, winter swimming, ice hockey games, football games in the snow, skiing races, speed skating races, sledge riding, poetry jamboree, wedding ceremonies, ice & snow cinematic festival. You can also feed the tigers, have a drink in one of the ice bars or even take a swim in the Songhua River (not for the faint of heart).
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| Lighted sculptures at Harbin International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival in China |
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| Lighted sculptures at Harbin Ice and Snow Festival in China |
Harbin, the 'Ice City of China' is located in the far northeast of the country, bordering Russia. Because of the cold winds from Siberia the temperatures can drop down to as low as -30ºC in winter. The ice sculpting begins in December and the incredibly dextrous artists can be seen at work throughout Christmas time. The festival lasts till mid February, when temperature rise and the ephemeral artworks melt away.
Harbin's ice and snow world attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from China and around the world every year. The festival was established in 1985, and it grew in popularity ever since.
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| Lighted sculptures at Harbin International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival in China |
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| Lighted sculptures at Harbin International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival in China |
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| Snow house at Harbin International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival in China |
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| Snow train at Harbin International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival in China |
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| Snow captain at Harbin International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival in China |
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| Ice sculpture at Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, China |
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| Ice sculptures at Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, China |
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| Colorful ice sculpture at Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, China |
The
28th Harbin Ice and Snow Festival will start on
January 5, 2012.
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