In Harbin, winter goes beyond the traditional Christmas breaks, New Year, and Chinese Spring Festival celebrations where The annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival takes place in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, and is the largest ice and snow festival in the world. The festival is officially held from January 5 to February 5.
How did all this start? It is said that making ice lanterns was something the fishermen in the area did in the winter. They needed a way to keep their lamps burning in the winter when they were out on the lake, so they invented the ice lantern. They filled a container with water let the water freeze. They put a lamp or a candle inside the piece of ice. And, they had a lantern!
The Harbin International Ice Festival only started about 10 years ago, and it is already one of world's four biggest such ice and snow festivals, along with the famous ones in Sapporo, Norway and Quebec. At first, mainly Chinese participated, but in the last few years, it has become an international festival and competition. As the festival grows in international participation and as China's economy grows, the size of the snow sculpture and ice architecture exhibits keeps growing.
The best time to go for the ice festival is from mid-December when the exhibits first start forming to the end of February. There are three places where travelers can see ice sculptures and lanterns and other winter activities: the Grand World of Ice and Snow for a great variety of snow activities, Sun Island Park where ice sculptures are displayed, and Zhaolin Park for the ice lanterns show.
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