Harbin, the capital of NE China’s Heilongjiang Province, is famous for its ice and snow exhibition and every winter the city attracts crowds of visitors with its freezing sculptures. This year’s International Ice Sculpture Expo is no exception.
International Ice Sculpture Expo opens in Harbin
This year’s expo spans over 600 thousand square meters, using 100 thousand cubic meters of ice- no mean feat. The most popular sculptures are the colourful ones. Artists here have fused traditional Chinese elements into their work. This blue and white porcelain themed sculpture stuns tourists.
"At first glance I thought this really was a classic blue and white porcelain vase, with snow flakes on it. It’s amazing! " a visitor said.
"The key is to find the right type of pigment, or it can melt into the ice. It’s a whole new effort to create such sculptures and I’m glad that people like it! " ice sculptor Cheng Hong.
The sculptures have been divided to 6 sections, each with a different style. There are huge white castles, mythological figures, sci-fi themes and more.
This is the main sculpture of the expo. It features a girl riding a horse to explore the universe. It’s a staggering 140 meters long and 26 meters tall.
The first edition of the ice sculpture expo was held back in 1988 and has been expanding ever since. Now in its 26th year, the event is set to attract a record number of tourists to visit the icy world.
