Do you wish to surround yourself with massive, gorgeous, and colourfully lit ice sculptures? If yes, then head to Harbin, a city in the northeastern part of China which is hosting the world’s largest ice festival. Witness recreations of famous figures, castles, historic landmark, animals, and cartoon characters. The festival kicked off from January 5 and will go on till the end of February.
Mind boggling fact: Despite temperatures dipping to as low as -30 degrees, 18 million people attended this festival last year.
Highlights of the 34th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival:
- The festival features more than 2000 ice sculptures made from 180,000 cubic meters of ice collected from river Songhua by nearly a thousand workers.
- The beautiful sculptures are lit with colourful lights later in the evening.
- In addition to ice sculpture competitions, the festival includes ice hockey, skiing, winter swimming, and snow biking.
- Among others, one can witness the ice replica of Moscow’s Red Square and Bangkok’s Temple of the Emerald Buddha here.
- Han Zhenkun, a famous ice sculpture artist, has showcased his work through a design based on the historic Silk Road.
- The main activities will start this week. Massive crowds are expected during the Lunar New Year celebrations which begin from February 16. Interestingly, the temperatures at this time of the year can dip below -18 Celsius.
The world changes when it snows! What started as a small ice carving contest for hobbyists has now grown into the world’s largest ice sculpture festival.
Till we meet again, happy travels!
