Harbin - Ice & Snow Festival 2012 #6

Flitze50 has added a photo to the pool:

Im Winter, in der Regel von Anfang Januar bis Mitte Februar, finden in Harbin das Eis- und Schnee-Festival und das Eislaternen-Festival statt. An verschiedenen Orten im Stadtgebiet werden dann zum Teil filigran ausgearbeitete Eis- und Schneeskulpturen ausgestellt. Die größten Skulpturen sind Nachbauten berühmter Baudenkmale wie des Louvre in Paris oder des Pekinger Sommerpalastes. Dabei können die Skulpturen mehrere Meter hoch werden und sind nachts von innen mehrfarbig beleuchtet. Das Festival hat sich mittlerweile zu einer Winter-Touristenattraktion entwickelt und gehört zu den vier größten Eis- und Schneefestivals der Welt (neben dem Schneefestival in Sapporo, dem Skifestival in Oslo und der Winter-Sonnwendfeier in Québec).

Harbin is located in Northeast China under the direct influence of the cold winter wind from Siberia. The average temperature in summer is 21.2 °C (70.2 °F) and −16.8 °C (1.8 °F) in winter.

The annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival has been held since 1985. Although the official start date is January 5 each year, in practice, many of the sculptures can be seen before. While there are ice sculptures throughout the city, there are two main exhibition areas: Enormous snow sculptures at Sun Island (a recreational area on the opposite side of the Songhua River from the city) and the separate "Ice and Snow World" that operates each night. Ice and Snow World features illuminated full size buildings made from blocks of 2–3 feet thick crystal clear ice directly taken from Songhua River which passes through the city. Winter activities in the festival include Yabuli Alpine Skiing, winter-swimming in Songhua River, and the ice-lantern exhibition in Zhaolin Garden. Snow carving and ice and snow recreations are world famous.

The "Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival" is one of the four largest ice and snow festivals in the world, along with Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada's Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway's Ski Festival.

Text: www.wikipedia.com