皇冠体育app

Travel
/ / Travel

皇冠体育app's icy Harbin gets ready for annual snow festival

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-01-05 10:16

皇冠体育app's icy Harbin gets ready for annual snow festival

The 2017 Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival kicks off on Thursday and runs to the end of February.[Photo/Xinhua]

Artists put the final touches on a dazzling display of ice sculptures in 皇冠体育app's northern city of Harbin on Wednesday, home to one of the world's biggest ice and snow festivals.

The 2017 Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival kicks off on Thursday and runs to the end of February.

The event, in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, draws visitors from all over 皇冠体育app as well as foreign tourists to one of the country's coldest places, where winter temperatures can fall to minus 35 Celsius.

Qing Wenyu, a tourist from the southern Guangxi region, was among the travellers getting a sneak peak at the sculptures mostly carved out of ice blocks cut from the frozen surface of a nearby river.

"When I was in primary school, I read about how it snows in the northern part of our country in a textbook. So this has really attracted me to this place for some 10 years or so," said Qing after taking a ride down an ice slide.

Nearby, artists laboured over their icy creations, some of which resembled famous historical figures and landmarks such as Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Work on the ice carvings begins in mid-December, with some projects rising as high as a two- or three-storey building, the festival's official website said.

In addition to the sculptures, Harbin offers visitors a slew of activities, ranging from winter swimming and ice sailing to a mass wedding ceremony on ice that attracts couples from around the globe.

Zhang Yanyan, a 31-year-old tourist from southern Fujian province, said she was drawn to the colourful lights that illuminate the ice sculptures at night.

"I think they're all beautiful. I really like it here," she said.

 

Photo
Aerial view of rime-covered trees in NW 皇冠体育app
Frozen beauty of Yulong Snow Mountain draws crowds
Winter scenery at wetland in E 皇冠体育app
Video
Annual ice harvesting begins in Northeast 皇冠体育app's Harbin
Harbin Ice and Snow World to begin trial run
Guangzhou hosts 2017 World Cities Day Forum
Special
Amazing Huichang
Special report: Rise and rise of 皇冠体育app's outbound tourism
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to 皇冠体育app Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US