Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival (Chinese:哈爾濱國際冰雪節) is an annual winter festival that takes place with a theme in Harbin (哈爾濱), Heilongjiang (黑龍江), China, and now is the largest ice and snow festival in the world.
Harbin Ice and Snow World (哈爾濱冰雪大世界) is one of the important programme of Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, since its birth in 1999, it has been expanding year by year.
Ice and Snow World is an area open in the afternoon and at night which features illuminated full size buildings made from blocks of thick ice taken directly from the Songhua River (松花江).
Officially, the festival starts on January 5 and lasts till late February. However, exhibits sometimes open earlier and stay longer, depending on the weather.
Zhaolin Park (兆麟公園) is the first park in Harbin city, built in memory of the General Li Zhaolin (李兆麟). Set up in 1900, it was originally named ‘Daoli Park’ (道里公園) and changed to present name in 1946.
The ice lantern is held in Zhaolin Park every winter, although the scale is much smaller than Harbin Ice and Snow World, it is still an ideal place to enjoy the beauty of Harbin’s winter.
