Harbin Ice Festival, Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, Activities

The well-known Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, from
January 5 and lasts for over one month, is held in the
north most province in China—Heilongjiang province. Geographically, it is located in Northeast China under
the direct influence of the cold winter wind from Siberia.
The Harbin festival is one of the world’s largest ice
and snow festival, along with Japan’s Sapporo
Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec City
Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski
Festival.

Ice Lantern and Sculpture

The highlight of the festival is the ice lantern and sculpture exhibitions,
which provide visitors a good opportunity to appreciate a galaxy of
unique ice and snow art. Thousands of exquisitely-made ice lanterns,
ice carvings and snow sculptures grace the snow-covered parks, public
squares and major streets, turning the city into a dreamlike world of
pure whiteness and gleaming crystal. These ice and snow art works
come in all shapes and sizes. They can be as small as a mouse or as big
as a bus. The designs range from life-size human figures, animals and
flowers to towering castles, delicate pagodas and many other ingenious
creations. The Sun Island Park is the site of the Snow Sculpture Exposition
displaying a wonderful snow world. It has the world's largest indoor ice and
snow art museum and it opens to the public from November every year.

Skiing and Winter Swimming

Heilongjiang province is the good place for skiing and winter swimming.
Yabuli is the famous and well-equipped skiing. Yabuli, located halfway
between Harbin and Mudanjiang in China's northernmost province
Heilongjiang (formerly know as Manchuria) is the home of China's first
destination resort and has expanded into China's first ski town with
multiple resorts on 3 mountains with a selection of 2 star to 5 start hotels
along a main access road. The two large areas are Yabuli Sun Mountain and
Yabui Ski Resort. The swimmers faced minus temperatures to jump into a pool
carved out of ice from the Songhua river. "Polar bear" swimming is traditionally
popular in China's northeastern areas, where the weather is very cold. The winter
temperature can go as low as minus 35 degrees Celsius. It's especially popular amongst
the elderly and retired as it's believed to improve circulation and benefit health. It's also said
to increase the level of mental awareness, release stress, remove aches and pains, increase vitality
and keep skin looking younger - and of course, an overall feeling of well-being.