Majestic Sculptures From The Harbin International Ice And Snow Festival

This festival has got to be the most magical place on the face of the planet.

1. The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival is in Heilongjiang, a province in China.

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2. It is located very close to Siberia, so the climate is perfect.

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3. The festival started in 1985.

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4. It lasts for around 3 months, or until the weather becomes undesirable.

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5. This year, it started on January 5th.

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6. The theme is “Ice and Snow World”

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7. There are epic snow sculptures.

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8. It’s one of the world’s four largest ice and snow festivals.

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9. They retrieve frozen blocks of ice from the surface of the Songua River to use for the festival.

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10. Millions of LED lights are used.

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11. The temperature usually hangs around -20 degrees Celsius.

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12. Every year, it attracts hundreds of thousands of people from China and all over the world.

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13. The Chinese interest in ice sculptures evolved from the creation of ice lanterns at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty in 1644.

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14. People would fill buckets with water, let it sit in the cold for a moment, then toss the water out. After gently warming the outside of the bucket, an ice-shaped bucket slips out. Then voila! A winterproof lantern to hang from trees.

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15. Yes, you can walk through some of the buildings!

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17. The festival has become a hotspot for photographers.

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18. I want to know if this windmill spins. Probably. They seem to know what they’re doing.

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19. They even have ice slides!

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20. The snow sculptures this year consisted of mythological creatures,

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21. recognizable sculptures,

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22. and other fairytale characters.

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27. Let’s go.