Enjoy winter fun in Harbin Ice and Snow World

The air is freezing cold in Harbin, in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, but people's enthusiasm for enjoying outdoor sports is only heating up.

The Harbin Ice and Snow World, the largest ice and snow theme park in the world, started its test run on Dec 23, following the 15-day construction period.

The 20th Ice and Snow World was designed and built by renowned overseas artists and local architectural designers. It covers an area of 600,000 square meters, with 110,000 cubic meters of ice and 120,000 cubic meters of snow.

Combining light, shadow, colors and rhythm to give visitors a unique experience, the park has six scenic areas with different themes, including the classics, a holy blessing area, ice and snow sports, King of the Glory in ice and snow, children’s interactive activities and international competitions, offering people great choices in entertainment.

This year’s ice and snow world has five unique highlights:

1.Review of ice and snow buildings from the past 20 years

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Harbin Ice and Snow World. Architectural designs in the park got their inspiration from reviewing the changes in the Ice and Snow World over the past 20 years, depicting the iconic landscapes and architectures from each year’s festival .

2.Combining ice sculptures with mobile phone games

One area at the Harbin Ice and Snow World was designed in the theme of a mobile phone game, Glory of the King, where the battle map and characters from the game are presented in the form of ice sculptures. During this year's festival, e-sports competitions will be held in the park to attract gamers.

3.Rich outdoor entertainment

Harbin Ice and Snow World launches over 30 ice and snow entertainment activities.

In addition to traditional activities such as ice dragon boats and ice bicycles, new items will be launched to provide tourists with unique experiences. These include snowmobiles, snowfield speedboats and cycle races on ice.

This year’s entertainment projects feature a 320-metre-long ice slide, which is the most popular entertainment item in the park. To reduce the time tourists spend waiting in line, three more slide tracks were added, raising the total number of slide tracks to six. Tourists can also use a mobile phone app to check the number of tourists waiting in line and the waiting time.

4. Exciting indoor activities

Even though the park has more than enough outdoor ice and snow activities to satisfy tourists’ expectations, the park also launched many indoor entertainment projects, such as a cinema providing 6-D films, dancing competitions, shows, children’s drama and various stage performances with exotic charm. It is expected that more than 2,600 performances will be staged.

5.Improved tourism facilities

Following previous events' tourist feedback, this year’s Harbin Ice and Snow World has set up 15 restrooms with heating systems and change rooms covering an area of around 400 square meters to provide convenience for tourists.

There are also 12 commercial service sites in the park, providing food, beverages and meals for tourists and serving as cold shelters.

Also, there are two service centers set up to provide services such as medical assistance, free charging of mobile phones, guide books, baggage storage, and ticket booking.