Harbin’s Snow Sculpture Festival has been around since 1985, and I’d wager that it gets better and better every year. It’s also home to a Guinness Record of the largest snow sculpture: 250 metres long, 28 feet (8.5 m) high, using over 13,000 cubic metres of snow. Hard to appreciate it by just reading those words, or even to see the photos below. The photos just can’t capture the IMMENSE looming sculptures and the jaw-dropping knowledge that they’re built entirely out of snow… in just a few weeks (working day & night nonstop). It’s truly an incredible sight.
White, white, white everywhere! Ice and snow on the ground, huge snow sculptures everywhere you look. Wonderful to behold but OMGGGG it was freezing. We could only survive 1 hour out there. My fingers went numb and my toes actually HURT like hell – so painful it was like they were burning and I couldn’t walk without limping. So then we ran into an ice hut which housed a little cafe selling (heavily overpriced) beverages and with lots of heater inside to warm up. It took us a good 30 mins to warm back up, before we headed back outside for another 1 hour round of sight-seeing the snow sculptures.
An awesome experience. We loved it!
Entering the Snow Sculptures
EVERYTHING is made of snow, snow and more snow
Freezing snow, everywhere!
Video of the snow sculptures (that’s Chris talking.. and me waving!)
(link for China visitors)
A snow cabin
A mini ice slide
Video of Chris zoooming down the mini ice slide
(link for China visitors)
Another huge snow sculpture
WOW
Scurrying into one of those snow-covered huts, for a hot beverage
Dusk – when the temperatures drop a further 10 degrees
The sculptures are kool!
The sculptures are kool!
I saw all the pictures and you were right…..WOW! indeed…it’s amazing!!
Ya it was so much fun.. really glad we went!
very very impressive!!
but you & chris must have freeze your butts off?!
Yeah, lol, it was freakin’ FREEZING!
The sculptures are so awesome!! I love the photos from Harbin, I’d like to visit too but I think I’ll have to gear up for the cold… for a couple of years… haha 🙂
Haha yeah.. bring your entire wardrobe and wear it – I had 5 layers 😛
Harbin looks like such an amazing place, and those sculptures look awesome!
Also, all of these photos are making me cold just LOOKING at them, I couldn’t imagine what -30 feels like! I don’t think I could handle it anyway, 15C is too cold for me 😛
I’m so glad we went – the cold was unbelievable, but still happy we did it, it was such an experience 🙂
Wow, those snow sculptures are impressive.
it was just incredible in real life, it’s a shame we couldn’t quite capture how amazing they were in photos, doh. still , not too bad
I saw all the pictures and you were right…..WOW! indeed…it’s amazing!!
Ya it was so much fun.. really glad we went!
very very impressive!!
but you & chris must have freeze your butts off?!
Yeah, lol, it was freakin’ FREEZING!
The sculptures are so awesome!! I love the photos from Harbin, I’d like to visit too but I think I’ll have to gear up for the cold… for a couple of years… haha 🙂
Haha yeah.. bring your entire wardrobe and wear it – I had 5 layers 😛
you look v cute in that huge coat! but brrrrrr.
Hehe so glad I got that puffy coat.. or would’ve actually frozen to death. I was close to it, as it is!
Harbin looks like such an amazing place, and those sculptures look awesome!
Also, all of these photos are making me cold just LOOKING at them, I couldn’t imagine what -30 feels like! I don’t think I could handle it anyway, 15C is too cold for me 😛
I’m so glad we went – the cold was unbelievable, but still happy we did it, it was such an experience 🙂
Eskimo Beverly is super cute.
also… freezing 😉
woww it must be really cold!!! When we used to live in Vancouver -10 deg is terribly FREEZING!!! i can’t imagine -30! Wahhh
Yeah it was kind of a shocking freezing.. and so painful on the skin! I wouldn’t wanna live there, that’s for sure 😉
That is just AMAZING!!!
Can’t believe that cold though…eeps!
Yeah it makes SHanghai’s winter appear warm in comparison… hehe
Wow, those snow sculptures are impressive.
it was just incredible in real life, it’s a shame we couldn’t quite capture how amazing they were in photos, doh. still , not too bad
Wow. These sculptures are incredible and to be able to have seen this in person would be worth any price. Very, very cool. 🙂
I’m with ya… we saw photos of it before we went but the real thing is nothing like it! 🙂
you look v cute in that huge coat! but brrrrrr.
Hehe so glad I got that puffy coat.. or would’ve actually frozen to death. I was close to it, as it is!
Eskimo Beverly is super cute.
also… freezing 😉
woww it must be really cold!!! When we used to live in Vancouver -10 deg is terribly FREEZING!!! i can’t imagine -30! Wahhh
Yeah it was kind of a shocking freezing.. and so painful on the skin! I wouldn’t wanna live there, that’s for sure 😉
That is just AMAZING!!!
Can’t believe that cold though…eeps!
Yeah it makes SHanghai’s winter appear warm in comparison… hehe
Wow. These sculptures are incredible and to be able to have seen this in person would be worth any price. Very, very cool. 🙂
I’m with ya… we saw photos of it before we went but the real thing is nothing like it! 🙂