Harbin Ice Festival China

all that you see made from snow and ice festival harbin china

This ice festival is now the main event, and it gets bigger every year.  Structures were now larger, more plentiful, more colorful, more detailed, and more stunning.

cold snow and ice festival harbin china

Despite this festival's name, snow and ice festivals have taken place in Harbin for decades, primarily in Zhaolin Park south of the river.  However, in 2000, this massive sponsor-driven event began on Sun Island north of the river, overtaking in importance the low-key festivities of the past. 

entrance snow and ice festival harbin china

Opening night at the ice festival.  This is the grand three-arch entryway greeting visitors to "The Sixth Annual Harbin Ice and Snow World."  Like the other structures here, this archway was made entirely of ice blocks cut from the Songhua River just hundreds of meters away.

fluresent tubes in ice snow and ice festival harbin china

Four flights of ice stairs lead up to an ice tower tens of meters high serving as the centerpiece to the festival grounds.  The good news is that, unlike past festivals, the icy stairs now had handrails.  The bad news is that they too were made of ice.

ice castle climbing snow and ice festival harbin china

his wall of ice gets steeper every year.  Pictures I saw from an earlier festival revealed a wall of ice that was little more than a hill; people could run over it if they started fast enough.  Two years ago the hill had grown to about a 45-degree angle, as shown in my previous ice festival photographs, but most people could still make it to the top with the help of knotted ropes.  This year the wall was practically vertical; very few were making it to the top, and many were plunging back into the snowbank below.

ice house snow and ice festival harbin china

A maze of hallways with walls and floors of solid ice designed to cause as many spills as possible.  Many people tried it out, and the design appeared to be quite successful.  Here, a father keeps his son on his feet while trying to keep himself on his feet.  Most kids were so bundled up this night that had they fallen, they wouldn't have noticed.

opening night fireworks snow and ice festival harbin china

One advantage of attending the festival on opening night was seeing fireworks explode over the ice sculptures.  Unlike most fireworks shows that build to a climax, this twenty-minute barrage was essentially a sustained finale.