Imagine being surrounded by 180,000 square meters of ice and 150,000 square meters of snow carved into magnificent sculptures, huge buildings and castles. This is the exact image of what Harbin, China will look like from Jan. 5 until March of 2014. Am I starting to remind you of Frozen? Millions of people are expected to visit the thirty-year anniversary of this festival, the most popular winter attraction in China. The festival started in 1985. In the past two years alone, 28.5 million visitors have come to see China’s city of ice.
It took over 7,000 workers and artists to complete the city that glows in the dark. They used chisels, lasers and ice picks to complete their masterpieces only a few days prior to the opening. The Harbin Ice Festival features some incredible sites in the sub-zero temperatures. This includes an exact ice replica of the Roman Colosseum, a replica of the Hallgrimskirkja church in Iceland, which is the tallest ice sculpture in China, an Empire State Building replica and a 240-meter long slide made entirely out of smooth chiseled ice. Most of the buildings are filled or covered with bright and festive LED lights, making the ice and snow glow of magnificent color.
One very important tradition of the Harbin Ice Festival is the intense swimming competition. More than 700 swimming contestants will enter the competitions to race against each other in the freezing winter waters. Because the weather is so extreme, there are 13 stands set up throughout the festival so people can enjoy hot beverages to keep themselves warm and toasty.
If you do not feel like swimming in freezing temperatures, you can also ice skate at one of the many ice rinks or go snowboarding at different locations throughout the festival. Just outside of the festival, you can go ice sailing, dog sledding, fishing or even see an ice lantern show at night, during which tons of lanterns are released into the sky.
The Harbin Ice Festival is an amazing and thrilling experience. The ice sculptures are beautiful and the buildings are unimaginable. Going to Harbin, China to see this exciting festival is a venture that should make it onto everyone’s bucket list.
