Traveler Magazine Andrew Harper Traveler Summer 2019 | Page 46

44
HARBIN
INTERNATIONAL
ICE & SNOW
SCULPTURE
FESTIVAL
SUMMER | 2019
Coachella Valley. Rio de Janeiro. Black Rock
City. Some destinations are known exclusively
for their larger-than-life festivals. As the home
of the world’s largest snow and ice sculpture
exhibit, Harbin, China, is definitely among
the ranks of those cities flaunting festival-born
fame. Held each January for about a month,
this festival in the Heilongjiang province of
northeastern China is a frosty wonderland
covering nearly 200 acres, with 2,000 wintry
works of art and about 30 rides, like ice slides
over 1,000 feet long.
The construction of the park is a feat in
itself, involving nearly 700,000 cubic feet of
snow and ice cut from the frozen surface of
the Songhua River. The ice is then carved,
chiseled, picked and polished into a variety
C O N TACT YO U R T R AV E L A DV I S O R TO DAY
of shapes and structures, from mammoth
mythical creatures to towering castles as
tall as 15-story buildings. But it doesn’t stop
there. At night, the structures are illuminated
by hundreds of multicolor lights—glowing,
flashing and flickering in a kaleidoscopic
light show. Corresponding with the festival
are various opportunities to get in the winter
spirit with pop-up ice bars, snowmobile tours
and even dogsledding. With so much to do,
this festival might even have you looking
forward to winter.
PHOTO
HARBIN, HEILONGJIANG, CHINA