Ice Sculptures

[faceless]

Chinese ice sculpture festival celebrates all things French

By CLAIRE BATES
20th December 2007

French tourists visiting the renowned snow carving festival in Harbin, China, will find themselves in familiar surroundings. This year's exposition features huge carvings inspired by France's culture and history. A traditional chalet, the Eiffel Tower and even a sculpture of Napoleon Bonaparte have been intricately etched into the snow.

The largest work is more than 100 feet high and 600 feet across and many of the winter wonderland sculptures are lit up with dazzling neon lights at night. Some of the structures are created by piling up ice blocks, carved with chisels and chainsaws, to make huge models of buildings. Lights are frozen in the middle of them creating the beautiful displays of colour.

The festival was set up in 1963 and re-established in 1985 following the cultural revolution in China. It now attracts hundreds of thousands of locals and visitors from all over the world who brave the sub-zero temperatures. It is held each year on the Sun Island in Harbin, a city in northeast China. The arctic climate provides an abundant amount of ice and snow with average winter temperatures of minus 16.8 degrees.

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