Geng Hongjie/VCG via AP Images

One Cool City

February 17, 2025

Brrrr! On January 5, the high temperature in Harbin, China, barely made it above zero degrees Fahrenheit. That didn’t stop more than 800,000 people from heading to the city’s coolest attraction. It was the opening ceremony of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival.

The annual winter wonderland features huge frozen sculptures. Setting up the festival takes months. Workers cut thousands of ice blocks from the frozen Songhua River, which winds through Harbin. Then sculptors from around the world carve the blocks, creating works of art. This year’s festival includes a castle and frosty versions of some famous landmarks, like the Great Wall of China.

Festival-goers can also zip down huge ice slides or explore an ice maze. At night, the city is bathed in a rainbow of neon lights.

The festival is expected to last until late February. But this wonderland will be back again next winter.