Harbin Ice and Snow Festival kicks off January 5, 2014 in
northern China Celebrating its 30th anniversary. Festival gets more extravagant
each year. This frosty wonderland in northern China features crazy sculptures
made from massive ice blocks and illuminated with colorful LED lights. The
result is an exhibition of extravagant castles, a Colosseum and Empire State
Building, all made with ice blocks from the frozen Songhua River. Sculptors
have been carving away with ice picks, chisels and lasers for the last two
weeks in preparation.
This year’s festival features a replica of iceland’s Hallgrimskirkja
church with a 240 meter slide that visitors can slide down. According to
organizers, the structure is the tallest ice sculpture in China (46 meters) and
was made with 12,000 meters of ice.
Visitors can skate on ice rinks and snowboard. Apart from
replicas, the North Korea Pyongyang
National Acrobatic Troupe will perform in the festival. Last two years
28.5 million visitors combined in the festival as it is China’s most popular
winter attraction.
To combat Harbin's subzero temperatures, organizers have
set up 13 hot beverage stations around the park and provide ginger tea at its
concierge hall. The festival is open until March 2014. And it’s Depending on
weather conditions.
