by Jean Knill

Created on: April 01, 2010

If you can get some time off and get yourself to China next January, pack up plenty of warm clothing layers and head to Harbin in the far north of the country. January 5th is the start of its month-long, annual Ice Festival, when the city opens the doors of its fantastic Ice and Snow World, and holds the Ice Lantern Exhibition in Zhaolin Park. It is the culmination of months of work, designing and making works of art with ice and snow.

While you will see the ice sculpture exhibits in Zhaolin Park, the festival’s snow sculpture exhibition is held in Sun Island Park, on the northern banks of the Songhua River that flows through the town. In recent years, Harbin has opened its snow and ice sculpting competitions to the international art world, and the festival is patronized by a cosmopolitan mix of artists and tourists from many countries. All the sculptures in snow and ice are amazing pieces of work, with intricate and delicate designs often as part of colossal themes like episodes in history, classic works and folk tales.

All of this is possible because of the arctic climate of this capital of Heilongjiang Province, close to the Russian border. But you’d be wise not to put off a visit for too many years in case climate changes take effect. This has been a concern in recent years when temperatures have been a little higher than normal from time to time. It meant that officials were worried about the ice structures melting before the end of the month long festival. It hasn’t happened yet, though.

It would take some doing anyway, as the structures are all life-size or even larger. One of the largest snow sculptures was over 800 feet long and in places over 90 feet high. In Zhaolin Park and the Ice and Snow World you’ll find life size replicas of actual buildings that you can enter and move through.

The tradition of putting lights in ice as lanterns in this area goes back at least to the 17th century. Local residents froze water in buckets and then warmed it just enough to remove some of the ice. They then made a hole in the middle with a chisel, large and deep enough to hold a candle and keep it alight even if it was windy. Their ice lanterns would light up the streets and areas around their homes, and could be carried around as well. From these humble beginnings the ice festival evolved, and these practical uses have turned into the art of magical cities of light that have to be seen to be believed.

The festival exhibits in the Ice and

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