Ice and Snow Festival in China is a World Class Event

Ice and Snow Festival in China is a World Class Event
Since 1963 Harbin has hosted the Ice and Snow Festival which includes an entire themed city cast from ice blocks cut from the Songhua river. The festival includes an international contest in which ice carvers from around the world compete for prizes and in the process create an amazing sculpture garden in Zhaolin Park.

The venues are completely different from day to night. During the day the carvings and slides can be seen as a snowy winterland, but at night the colored lights frozen into the blocks of ice create a colored fairyland.

"My kids love going to Harbin for the Ice and Snow Festival. They are 9, 6 and 4 years old and it was perfect for them. Ice slides, carvings, dog and horse sleds and Russian hot chocolate. Since we are in Beijing they ask to go back every year" says Peter Danford, owner of Beijing Freedom Travel Agency.

Plane tickets and hotels must be booked in advance as the event draws huge crowds every year. The festival will open around Christmas and goes until early February.

Beijing Freedom Travel Agency offers a variety of customizable tours on its web site, The China Guide - www.thechinaguide.com