Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival

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Ice sculptures from 2010

The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival ( Chinese  哈尔滨 国际 冰雪节 , Pinyin Hā'ěrbīn Guójì Bīngxuě Jié ) is an annual winter festival in the Chinese metropolis of Harbin . With its extensive ice sculptures , it is the largest ice and snow festival in the world.

The festival officially starts on January 5th and lasts a month, but the exhibition often starts earlier and lasts until the end of February, if the outside temperatures and the wind allow it. The ice sculptures are spread across the city, with two central exhibition areas:

  • "Sun Island" is a recreational area on the far side of the Songhua River facing away from the city , on which snow sculptures are installed.
  • "Ice and Snow World" is an area that is also open at night, on which large ice buildings have been erected, which are illuminated when it is dark. The ice blocks, which are up to one meter thick, are taken directly from the Songhua River.

Ice lantern parades are held in many parks during the festival. Other winter activities include alpine skiing in the Yabuli winter sports center , winter bathing in the Songhua River and an ice lantern exhibition in the Zhaolin Garden. Harbin is located in Manchuria and is subject to the influence of cold, dry winds from Siberia in winter . The average temperatures are 21.2 ° C in summer and −16.8 ° C in winter, with lows of −35 ° C not uncommon.

history

The festival has its origins in Harbin's traditional lantern shows and garden parties, which have been held in winter since 1963. During the Cultural Revolution , the celebrations were suspended for many years and only resumed on January 5, 1985, when an annual event was held in Zhaolin Park.

In 2001 the Ice Festival was combined with the Heilongjiang International Ski Festival and renamed: "Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival".

In 2007 there were in honor of the Canadian doctor Norman Bethune (1890-1939) some snow sculptures with reference to his motherland, which were included in the Guinness Book of Records due to their length of 250 meters and 28 meters high . The sculpture consisted of 13,000 cubic meters of snow and had two themes: the “ Niagara Falls ” and the “Crossing the Bering Strait ”, which depicts the migration of the First Nations .

From December 20, 2013 to February 2014, the festival celebrated its 30th anniversary under the motto “50-Year Ice Snow, Charming Harbin”.

construction

Ice sculpture of a sphinx from the festival 2010.

Vibrating saws are used on the frozen surface of the Songhua River to cut the ice into blocks. Then sculptors work the blocks of ice with chisels , ice picks and various saws in order to bring the large-format ice sculptures into shape, many of which are elaborately designed and the cutting work is carried out in multiple shifts until the opening day. In addition to the river ice, distilled water is used to produce crystal clear (transparent) ice instead of the otherwise more milky (translucent) ice. At night, the ice sculptures are illuminated in multiple  colors from the inside with LED light sources .

More than 12,000 workers create the artificial ice world within three weeks. The ice sculptures include buildings and monuments of various architectural eras and styles, figures and mythical creatures. Palaces, bridges, cathedrals and towers up to 50 meters high are piled up from individual blocks or bricks of ice.

See also

Other major ice and snow festivals are the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan , the Québec Carnival in Canada and the “ Holmenkollen Ski Festival ” in Norway .

gallery

  • Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival 2010

  • Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival 2010

  • Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival 2010

  • Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival 2010

  • Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival 2010

  • Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival 2010

  • Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival 2010

  • Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival 2010

  • Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival 2013

  • 2014 Hong Kong Harbin Winter Festival

Web links

Commons : Harbin Ice Festival  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harbin Ice and Snow Festival , travelchinaguide.com. Retrieved December 27, 2014. 
  2. ↑ a b Ice Wonderland: Harbin Ice Festival 2014. In: Detail.de. January 10, 2014, accessed February 22, 2018 .
  3. ↑ The 30th Harbin Ice and Snow Festival 2014 . Harbin Ice. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  4. ↑ a b AFP: Ice is money in China's coldest city. In: The Sydney Morning Herald . November 13, 2008, archived from the original on October 2, 2009 ; accessed on February 22, 2018 (English).
  5. ↑ BBC: In pictures: Harbin ice festival . BBC News . January 6, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2009.
  6. ↑ K. Zeitvogel: Chinese-sculpted winter wonderland in Washington . AFP / Google. December 18, 2009. Retrieved December 26, 2009.
  7. ^ J. Strum: Northern Chinese city embraces cold and ice . The State Journal, Frankfort, Kentucky. December 22, 2009. Retrieved December 26, 2009.
  8. ↑ a b Johanna Stöckl: When whole worlds are made of snow and ice. In: The world . January 6, 2015, accessed February 22, 2018 .
  9. ^ A. Taylor: Icy days and nights . Boston.com/AP/Getty Images / AFP / Reuters. January 9, 2009. Retrieved December 26, 2009.
  10. ^ Nicole Mullen, Ching-chih Lin: Chinese Folk Art, Festivals, and Symbolism in Everyday Life ( en ) Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology / University of California, Berkeley . 2005. Archived from the original on August 24, 2009. Retrieved on February 22, 2018.