Harbin Snow and Ice Festival Opens

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But the winter weather is welcome in other parts of the Mainland. The 27th annual Snow and Ice Festival in China's Harbin province opened today. Each year, hundreds of thousands of tourists brave sub-zero temperatures to witness the spectacle. It showcases some of the largest man-made ice structures in the world.

This year, nearly ten million cubic feet of snow and ice were cut from Harbin's Songhua River so an army of sculptors could set to work on them with picks and chisels.

Massive archways. Towering cathedrals. Many are fitted with lights inside the ice blocks.

The Harbin Snow and Ice Festival—which opened Wednesday—brings hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. It's a subzero treat at a time when many people would be tempted to travel south to warmer climates.

Sculptor Wen Donghua says he's been looking forward to displaying his work, which includes this giant bunny face to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Rabbit.

[Wen Donghua, Sculptor]:
"This snow sculpture uses more than 2,000 cubic meters of snow, and required more than 20 people working for five or six days to complete. The hardest part of this job is that it's very cold. But we can get over that."

Harbin exports snow and ice around the world for similar festivals. The blocks of ice from the Songhua River are said to be particularly clear because it freezes slowly while being polished by the flowing river beneath.

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• mainland
• china
• tourists
• ice structures
• Songhua River
• sculptors
• cathedrals
• archways
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[DeltaNordicAdvance]

Wow. Chinese build all this in one month, but africans haven't built even 1/2 of this in over 50,000 years. 

[leoanajamieson]

THIRD

[jecco2011]

SECOND

[HeliumTunes]

FIRST!!!!