The Amazing Giant Ice Sculptures China's Coolest Christmas

These impressive ice sculptures are part of a display for the upcoming Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival.

The festival officially begins on January 5, when 800,000 tourists are expected to visit the freezing city in northern China.

As well as the colourful life-sized ice buildings, which reflect traditional Chinese architecture, there is also a 160m high Father Christmas sculpture, said by organisers to be the world's largest.

Snow Wonder

When the snow finally comes to Helsinki (the rest of Finland is often white weeks before) the landscape totally reverses and ground becomes lighter than the sky. The ice hotel is rebuilt anew every year with 30,000 tons of snow and 4,000 tons of ice.Ice blocks are cut from the Torneälven River in late autumn and the ice hotel gradually takes shape over the next few months. 

 

 

The design is based on the architecture of the mediaeval cathedral. Temperatures in the icehotel vary between -4 to -9 degrees c even when outside temperatures drop below -30c.But by late april the suns rays begin to take their toll and by june the ice hotel has returned to its liquid state.