Ice, snow firing up economy of nation's winter wonderland
HARBIN - On a bitterly cold morning, the Songhua River flows quietly under a thick layer of ice. Suddenly, the peace is broken by the harsh sound of electric saws. Liu Changyi and his peers are cutting giant blocks of ice from the frozen river. Each block weighs hundreds of kilograms and has a uniform size of 1.6 meters long, 0.8 meter wide and 40 or 50 centimeters thick.
They use hooks to lift the blocks out of the river and drag them to the shore, where forklifts load them onto trucks bound for the winter wonderland of Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.
Harbin has caught the world's attention with its increasingly popular winter extravaganza, the International Ice and Snow Festival, which features massive, elaborate ice sculptures, competitions and winter sports.
