Do you want to see world record sized snow sculptures longer than 1 or 2 football fields? Or be amazed at buildings, palaces, castles and other architecture that are wildly lit up and spectacular and are made entirely of ice? The tallest ice buildings in the last two years were about 50 meters (about 160 feet) tall! Or would you want to see the beautiful and intricately carved ice art of the international ice carving competition? Then come to Harbin during the International Ice and Snow Festival and see them before they melt.
Overview
The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival only started about 10 years ago, and it is already one of world’s four biggest such ice and snow festivals, along with the famous ones in Sapporo, Norway and Quebec. At first, mainly Chinese participated, but in the last few years, it has become an international festival and competition. As the festival grows in international participation and as China’s economy grows, the size of the snow sculpture and ice architecture exhibits keeps growing. Now, the work going into making these exhibits is astounding, and their size and beauty is amazing. Last year, tens of thousands of people labored on the displays.
The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival is made up of the Grand World of Ice and Snow snow sculpture festival on Sun Island Park and the Ice Lantern Festival which is put on in two nearby sites at Zhaolin Park and in Stalin park on the bank of the Songhua River facing Sun Island Park. These three sites are actually only within about two kilometers away from each other. So the big Harbin ice and snow fest is actually composed of two different festivals in three main sites. The snow art and sculptures are mainly on Sun Island Park, and the ice exhibits are in Stalin Park and Zhaolin Park. Along with these three main sites, expert craftspeople build ice and snow displays in some of the streets or other parks, and non-so-expert craftspeople join in on the fun. You can too!
Walking around the three venues, you’ll see world record-sized snow sculptures longer than two football fields, and some ice buildings, palaces, monuments, or statues about 50 meters tall (160 feet high) that you can walk and slide around in and on. These displays are technologically sophisticated, using computer controlled LED and regular lighting to put on stunning displays of changing color and design. For example, there was a replica of the Great Wall of China that people could slide on. Many of the architecture replicas have ice slides. Harbin is called “Ice City,” and the winters are bitterly cold, but the conditions are right for the ice festival.. See China Highlights China Winter Vacation Deals to apprecaite the Ice Lantern Festival in Harbin.
History
How did all this start? It is said that making ice lanterns was something the fishermen in the area did in the winter. They needed a way to keep their lamps burning in the winter when they were out on the lake, so they invented the ice lantern. They filled a container with water let the water freeze. They put a lamp or a candle inside the piece of ice. Wala, they had a lantern.
In 1963, the first Ice Lantern Festival is said to have been held in Zhaolin Park in the old district of the city. It was suspended for some time during the Cultural Revolution, then it started up again. In 1999, the city government started the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival.
Since 2001, Grand World of Ice and Snow has been held on Sun Island Park in the Songhua River. This gives the festival a lot of space to build dozens of huge snow structures and also to simultaneously hold athletic competitions such as speed skating competitions.
Now, tens of thousands of people are involved in constructing the ice and snow exhibits in the three sites. The ice buildings have grown huge in Stalin Park. And there are more foreign entrants in the ice carving competition in Zhaolin Park.
Nearby Attractions
On the north side of Sun Island Park just a short walk away from the Grand World of Ice and Snow is a large cat park called Siberian Tiger Park that has hundreds of Siberian Tigers, lions, and other large cats on exhibit. The largest Orthodox cathedral in the Far East is nearby called St. Sophia’s Cathedral. The architecture is unusually beautiful. Also nearby is the Russian-Chinese Market area for shopping, the pedestrian Central Street for dining and sightseeing, and the old foreign-style buildings in the old district of the city.
Getting There
From Beijing, it takes about 3 hours to get to the winter festival sites, including the flight to Taiping International Airport (2 hours) and taxi to the sites (1 hour). The airport is about 30 kilometers outside the city. Buses travel between the festival sites and the airport. Most of the trains between Beijing and Harbin are overnight trains that leave in the afternoon and arrive early the next morning.
Tips
- The Ice Lantern Exhibition begins on January 5 and extends into the end of next February.
- On the Harbin Ice and Snow festival held once every year, visits can not only take part in the Ice Lantern Exhibition to enjoy all kinds of ice sculptures, but also participate in various sports held in the Grant World of Ice and Snow, such as, taking ice boat, beating ice monkey, skating, watching the winter swimming game and the wedding held on the ice.
