Chinese city turns into winter wonderland for Snow and Ice Festival
China’s world famous Snow and Ice Festival officially opened its doors to visitors in Harbin on Friday.Occupying an area of nearly 600,000 square metres (1,968,504 ft) – nearly as much as Disneyland - this year's ice-world featured castles and famous landmarks include Moscow’s Red Square, Beijing's Temple of Heaven and Bangkok’s Temple of the Emerald Buddha. At night the colossal sculptures glistened as they were illuminated by computer-controlled LEDs. The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival has become one of China’s most popular tourist destinations for the winter months. The festival runs through until late February, with heavy crowds expected during the Lunar New Year celebrations, when temperatures could drop to - 30°C (-22 °F). Despite the bitter cold, a total of one million visitors attended the ice festival last year.
China’s world famous Snow and Ice Festival officially opened its doors to visitors in Harbin on Friday.Occupying an area of nearly 600,000 square metres (1,968,504 ft) – nearly as much as Disneyland - this year's ice-world featured castles and famous landmarks include Moscow’s Red Square, Beijing's Temple of Heaven and Bangkok’s Temple of the Emerald Buddha. At night the colossal sculptures glistened as they were illuminated by computer-controlled LEDs. The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival has become one of China’s most popular tourist destinations for the winter months. The festival runs through until late February, with heavy crowds expected during the Lunar New Year celebrations, when temperatures could drop to - 30°C (-22 °F). Despite the bitter cold, a total of one million visitors attended the ice festival last year.