Ice and Snow Festival kicks off in Harbin

2010-01-07 08:39 BJT

 

Despite most of the world enduring freezing temperatures, China's northeast is welcoming the cold weather. The famous Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival has opened, bringing a winter wonderland to visitors from China and across the world.

A bitter winter for some, a golden time for others.

This year's winter has been extremely cold, with Harbin having already logged a temperature of minus 34 Celsius degrees.

Despite the freeze, tens of thousands of people came outside to enjoy the festival's stunning ice buildings, styled on architecture from around the world.

A British tourist said, "It's absolutely fantastic, it's really magical, very pleased to be here."

A Dutch tourist said, "It's very nice I really like it, it's lots of color. I compared it with Disney World but then a lot flashier."

The magical sculptures are all made entirely out of ice and illuminated by colorful lights encased within the structures.

For the festival, Harbin uses an estimated 120 thousand cubic meters of snow and 160 thousand cubic meters of ice, which is cut into large translucent blocks from the surface of the Songhua River that winds across the city.

As well as taking in the eye catching scenery, visitors can also enjoy ice skating, ice mazes, or warm themselves with candied fruit on a stick.

A Chinese tourist said, "I like the Ice Maze. If you enter it you can't find the exit sometimes."

The festival first delighted crowds back in 1985, and now draws several million tourists from across the country and the world.

It traditionally runs until early February when the ice starts to melt.

Editor: Liu Fang | Source: CCTV.com