A Chinese Winter Wonderland Filled With Snow Sculptures That Are Simply Breathtaking
This magical winter wonderland in China have ginormous ice sculptures of horses and women and mammoths and castles and T-Rexes. They're truly, truly incredible! And did we mention the people who make these have the 'coolest' jobs ever...literally.
By Sadho Ram — 27 Dec 2013, 02:15 PM — Updated about 11 years ago
The magnificent sculptures are all part of China's Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival
And where is Harbin?
Harbin is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang province in China's northeast region, as well as the tenth most populous city nationally.
There are sculptures in all different shapes and sizes. For example there are these huge woolly mammoths and reindeer
One of the most spectacular sculptures at Harbin's 26th annual International Snow Sculpture Art Expo was created with the help of 100 craftsmen and used 24 thousand cubic-meters of snow
The sculpture, called 'Dream', is 26 meters tall and 170 meters long.
shanghaiist.comThis year's expo spans over 600 thousand square meters and uses 100,000 cubic-meters of snow and ice. The theme of this year's expo lies in Russian culture.
The sculptures are all divided into six sections depending on their style, such as castles, mythological figures and sci-fi themes
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.
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"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.
shanghaiist.comThe first edition of the ice sculpture expo was held back in 1988 and has been expanding ever since
This is a picture from last year’s sculpture festival. LED lights make it give the festival that extra little thing. It actually makes it look like a living breathing city.
Image via buzzfed.comNow in its 26th year, the event is set to attract a record number of tourists to visit the icy world. Known as the largest festival of its kind the world, it's always pretty spectacular.
cntv.cnIf you're wondering how the sculptures stay like that, temperature in Harbin, China averages around 2 degrees Fahrenheit (-16.8 degrees Celsius)
We thought we'd round up some pictures to give you a sense of the wonder
