Beijing's Hall of Prayer "Recreated" at Sapporo Snow Festival

Snow sculpture of the "Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests" in Beijing's Ditan Park greets tourists at the opening ceremony of Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival on Monday, February 7, 2011. [Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]

A giant snow sculpture of Beijing's landmark monument, "Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests" in Tiantan Park, was on display at the venue of the Sapporo Snow Festival, which opened on Monday in Hokkaido, Japan.

The sculpture, standing 22 meters tall and stretching for 30 meters, took over one hundred Japanese workers a month to build and consumed nearly 3,500 tons of snow. It is the largest snow sculpture among other snow-made international cultural icons.

In addition to the snow sculpture, the Beijing Tourism Bureau brought a series of photo exhibitions and various tourism promotions to this largest winter event in Japan.

The Sapporo Snow Festival, first organized in 1950, was one of the world's major snow festivals that keeps attracting tourists all over the globe. This year's festival will last until February 13.

Snow sculptures of cartoon characters are on display at the opening venue of Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival on Monday, February 7, 2011. [Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]

Snow sculptures of cartoon characters are on display at the opening venue of Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival on Monday, February 7, 2011. [Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]