The 37th annual Harbin Snow and Ice Festival are taking place in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin in Heilongjiang province. The first one took place in 1963 but the festival was stopped for a few years during the Cultural Revolution in China. Around 220,000 cubic meters of ice and snow are carved from the Songhua River to build the works of ice art each year, and they are moved by truck to the festival venue.

 

The festival area covers a vast 750,000 sq meters and the creations this year include a towering frozen ice palace, a crystal palace, an ice bar and a scale model of China's first aircraft carrier. The ice sculptures maintain their form due to the low temperatures experienced in Harbin during winter.