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These 24 Breathtaking Photos From Harbin Snow And Ice Festival Will Make You Wanderlust
If you think you know how a winter wonderland looks, we invite you to think again. Even though your image may be filled more with fairy-lights, Christmas-trees and cinnamony smells as most of us probably associate the season with Christmas celebrations, these pictures from the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival will offer quite a different but no less fascinating perspective on what a winter wonderland can be.
This festival is an annual event taking place in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China and is currently the largest snow and ice festival in the world. Its history started in 1999 when the first Ice and Snow World was opened to the public in December. At first, the participants were almost all Chinese, however, it kept growing and growing until it was decided to make it an international festival and competition. Take a look at the wonders that these ice-sculptors came up with!
More info: Habin Ice
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Harbin has earned the status of one of the coldest places on Earth. But the city found the most beautiful way to embrace their icy existence.
Man how much training is needed to make a detailed sculpture like that? Wouldn't surprise me if someone makes something like this with freespinning wheels in a few years.
They adapted to the chilly weathers so well, they actually celebrate it and do that in the best way possible - they've been throwing marvelous winter festivities for the last 36 years during the International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival.
Oh my god how people can make such detailed things with ice is amazing. I struggle to get it out of the ice tray without it breaking.
The 36th annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival opened on the 5th of January and is themed "Ice Snow Integration, Happy to Go Together", giving a lot of freedom for sculptors to express their creativity.
Harbin carved it's name strongly into all the books of popular winter destinations with it's annual winter wonderland that takes approximately 220.000 cubic meters of ice and snow to be built.
The festival attracts up to 15 million visitors annually, according to China Highlights.
Thats gotta be an expensive sponsorship for Cocacola, how much does a massive ice sculpture cost anyway?
The entire 600,000-square-meter area is filled with wonderful ice sculptures this year, the tallest one of them being 150 feet tall.
Whoa you can walk in it? Imagine how cool it would be to sled down the pathway.
10,000 workers were brought in to cut, haul and sculpt the ice.
These fill me with soo much joy to see, but anyone else get really sad when you think of it melting? Like I am sure the artist is used to it, but ice sculptures are a thing to be enjoyed in the here and now, and no matter how good they are, there are not many museums with walk in freezers for ice art where I live.
No, it doesn't make me sad. So much is ephemeral, and that's where the magic is.
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These fill me with soo much joy to see, but anyone else get really sad when you think of it melting? Like I am sure the artist is used to it, but ice sculptures are a thing to be enjoyed in the here and now, and no matter how good they are, there are not many museums with walk in freezers for ice art where I live.
No, it doesn't make me sad. So much is ephemeral, and that's where the magic is.
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