International Harbin Ice and Snow Festival 2020!

Slide down the ice, take a winter swim, soak in hot springs. See dozens of massive ice sculptures reflecting rainbows, including castles and a ‘crown of ice’ blocks 131 feet tall! The world’s biggest ice and snow carnival happens in the city of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang, a province in NE China.

A Kingdom of Ice and Snow

The 148-acre fairy tale theme park sparkles and dazzles with special, brighter, and cooler neon lighting designed by Chinese engineers. Hand-carved, semi-transparent ice sculptures amaze visitors, who, for the thrill of experiencing this phenomenon, will brave temperatures that could drop to minus 30 degrees.

Ice Supplies, Artists, and Visitors

Blocks are chiseled out from the frozen, local Songhua River in early December to provide tons of ice needed to display this magical world of snow/ice art.

Fifteen thousand workers created the 36th annual celebration of winter in only fifteen days. The city of Harbin expects over 1,000,000 people from all over the world to start arriving in early January for the three-month event.

When you are packing for this trip, think ‘clothing for exploring the North Pole’. Don’t forget your long underwear!

Fun Facts About Ice 

Ice is frozen water. Water can be solid (ice), liquid (water), or gas (vapor/steam). When water freezes (at 32 degrees Fahrenheit) the molecules move farther apart, making it less dense than its former state of liquid. This means that ice will be lighter than the same volume of water, so . . . ice will float.  

Cool, huh?

Want to learn how to be safe on ice? Click here for Cool Ice Safety Tips.