Russian Ice Festival 2

[wolfdancer]

Most of the sculptures appearing at the snow festival are competitive entries.

Each team starts with a cube of packed snow that appears to measure about three meters on a side, and then starts carving away.

Teams come in from all over the world - Russia, Japan, Canada, France, even South Africa.

Part of the fun is guessing the nationality of the team, based on their sculpture's artistic style, before reading the signs.

I believe this was a Russian entry.



http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/7799/image0039gd.jpg

The sun begins to set behind the magnificent entryway sculpture.

The snow festival is actually separate from the ice festival; both take place on the wide open spaces of Sun Island Park north of Harbin's river, Songhua Jiang.

Harbin is situated south of the river, so it's a chilly ride over to the sites. It seems even chillier when crossing the bridge over the very wide and very frozen Songhua Jiang.

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/9245/image0044ib.jpg

continued

[wolfdancer]

Snow and ice sculpture in Harbin dates back to Manchu times, but the first organized show was held in 1963, and the annual festival itself only started in 1985.

Since then, the festival has grown into a massive event, bringing in over a million tourists from all over the world every winter.

The sculptures have become more elaborate and artistic over time; this bear and cub are just one small part of a fifty-meter-wide mural sculpture.



http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/7757/image0029hy.jpg

[wolfdancer]

The temperature in Harbin reaches forty below zero, both Fahrenheit and centigrade, and stays below freezing nearly half the year. The city is actually further north than notoriously cold Vladivostok, Russia, just 300 miles away. So what does one do here every winter? Hold an outdoor festival, of course! Rather than suffer the cold, the residents of Harbin celebrate it, with an annual festival of snow and ice sculptures and competitions. This is the amazing sculpture made of snow greeting visitors to the snow festival in 2003.

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/8146/image0018tp.jpg

[nAz]

WOW wolfy that is a great find... i would love to see that inperson!

[Rich R.]

Thanks for the show Wolf. It's spectacular.

[Gayle in MD]

Those are incredible! thanks

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