The 32nd annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival opens Jan. 5 and runs to Feb. 5. (Photo: AP)
Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: Wang Zhao/AFP Photo
BRAVE swimmers plunged into freezing waters while other visitors gazed at frozen palaces at China’s spectacular 32nd Harbin Ice and Snow Festival.
The annual festival in the capital of the northeastern province of Heilongjiang is expected to draw more than one million visitors to admire castles and cathedrals sculpted out of ice and lit up at night in ethereal colours.
Night view of ice sculptures ahead of the 32nd Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin city. Picture: Splash News AustraliaSource:Splash News Australia
This year’s display is the largest in the festival’s decades-long history, filling a park the size of more than 100 sports fields and using a record amount of ice and snow, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Though temperatures on Tuesday remained a biting -14°C even during the day, a number of festivalgoers took part in an ice-swimming competition, diving bare chested and head first into freezing pools of water cut into the ice.
Surely that water’s taking her breath away. A swimmer takes a breath in a pool carved from thick ice during an ice swimming competition during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 5, 2016. Picture: Wang Zhao/AFPSource:AFP
Those not inclined to take the plunge admired a vast expanse of ice block Chinese palaces, Russian churches and European colonnades, with vendors selling gleaming rows of candied fruit.
Visitors sledded and snapped selfies on the eve of the park’s opening ceremony, the translucent pagodas around them glowing in surreally neon pinks, blues and greens.
The centrepiece is a 15-story tower of ice, thought to be the world’s tallest. The festival’s schedule includes ice and snow sculpture contests, as well as performances and musical events.
Local authorities hope that the festival can bring much needed tourist dollars to the region, historically one of China’s industrial bases, now hit by an economic slowdown.
See more pics of the festival below:
View of the 51-meter-tall ice building, dubbed as “Crown of Ice-Snow” castle, at the Sun Island scenic spot in Harbin City, China. Picture: Splash News Australia
Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, China. Picture: Splash News Australia
Night view of ice sculptures ahead of the 32nd Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin city. People enjoyed the large-scale ice sculpture castle during a trial operation for the 32nd Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival at the Ice and Snow World in China. Picture: Splash News Australia
A swimmer takes a breath in a pool carved from thick ice during an ice swimming competition during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 5, 2016. Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO
People visit the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 5, 2016. Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO
Two policewomen chat in front of ice sculptures at the China Ice and Snow World during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 5, 2016. Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO
A family take a carriage as they visit the China Ice and Snow World during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 5, 2016. Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO
This picture shows a general view of the opening ceremony of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival at the China Ice and Snow World in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 5, 2016. Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO
Visitors walk through the China Ice and Snow World during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 5, 2016. Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO
A family pull a sleigh before the opening ceremony of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 4, 2016. Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO
A woman uses a mobile phone to take a picture at the China Ice and Snow World during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 5, 2016. Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO
A girl slides at the China Ice and Snow World during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 5, 2016. Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO
Visitors watch fireworks at the China Ice and Snow World during the opening ceremony of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 5, 2016. Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO
Visitors walk through the China Ice and Snow World during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province on January 5, 2016. Over one million visitors are expected to attend the spectacular Harbin Ice Festival, where buildings of ice are bathed in ethereal lights and international ice sculptors compete for honours. Picture: AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO
Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, China. Picture: Splash News Australia
People visit ice sculptures ahead of the 32nd Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin City, China. Picture: Splash News Australia
People visit ice sculptures ahead of the 42nd Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin city, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, 30 December 2015.Picture: Splash News Australia
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