A spectacular, yet ephemeral, wonder of the world is once again drawing millions of visitors to China’s northernmost region. The Harbin International Ice and Snow World, often dubbed the “Ice City,” has opened for its annual season, showcasing gargantuan, illuminated sculptures and castles built entirely from ice.
The massive winter wonderland is widely recognized as the largest ice and snow festival globally. Reports suggest the project involves an investment often cited to be upwards of $500 million when accounting for construction, infrastructure, lighting, and the massive scale of operations that must be rebuilt every year.
Spanning an enormous area, the “Ice City” is constructed using hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of ice meticulously harvested from the frozen Songhua River. Thousands of workers brave temperatures that often plummet to () to hand-carve and assemble the colossal structures.
At night, the park transforms into a dazzling, multi-colored metropolis as the ice is illuminated by an elaborate internal lighting system, making landmark replicas, ice palaces, and multi-story ice slides glow with a fantastical brilliance.
The sheer scale of the investment is startling, given the city’s short lifespan. The Harbin Ice and Snow World typically opens in late December and runs until late February or early March, when rising temperatures make the massive ice structures unstable and unsafe.
In just two months, the entire half-billion-dollar metropolis slowly melts and returns to the Songhua River, making the experience a truly once-in-a-lifetime sight.
The festival also features the International Snow Sculpture Art Expo on Sun Island and the traditional Ice Lantern Fair, cementing Harbin’s reputation as the “Ice City” and a premier destination for global winter tourism. Visitors are urged to layer up, as the freezing cold is an inescapable part of this stunning, short-lived spectacle.
