The annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival has been held since 1963. It had been interrupted for a number of years during the Cultural Revolution until it was resumed in 1985.

Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province of People’s Republic of China, is one of the sources of ice and snow culture in the world. Geographically, it is located in Northeast China under the direct influence of the cold winter wind from Siberia. The average temperature in summer is 21.2 degrees Celsius, -16.8 degrees Celsius in winter. It can be as cold as -38.1 degrees Celsius in winter.

Officially, the festival starts January 5th and lasts one month. However the exhibits often open earlier and stay longer, weather permitting. Ice sculpture decoration technology ranges from the modern (using lasers) to traditional (with ice lanterns). There are ice lantern park touring activities held in many parks in the city. Winter activities in the festival include Yabuli alpine skiing, winter-swimming in the Songhua River, and the ice-lantern exhibition in Zhaolin Garden.

The Harbin festival is one of the world’s four largest ice and snow festivals, along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival.

The 2011 Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival with the themed “Merry Ice and Snow, Passionate City” kicked off on Jan. 5. It is the 27^th edition of this festival. This year, organizers have teamed up with Disney to construct a Disney Ice and Snow Wonderland. Taking up an area of 600,000 square meters, the Wonderland is three times larger than last year�s.

A man stands with his horse and carriage as he waits for visitors in front of a massive ice sculpture at the 12th Harbin Ice and Snow World display in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province

Workmen put the finishing touches to a large snow sculpture at the 12th Harbin Ice and Snow World display in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province

Workmen hang from a crane as they put the finishing touches to an ice sculpture for the 12th Harbin Ice and Snow World display in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province

Visitors enjoy the sights at the Harbin festival

Vendors selling beer and food stand in front of ice sculptures as they wait for customers at the 12th Harbin Ice and Snow World display in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province

Tourists look at ice sculptures during a light testing prior to the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, Heilongjiang province

Workmen put the finishing touches to an ice sculpture of a castle at the 12th Harbin Ice and Snow World display in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province,

Spectators walk near ice sculptures at the show.

Spectators walk near ice sculptures at the 27th Harbin Ice and Snow World.

Spectators stand near ice sculptures at the 27th Harbin Ice and Snow World festival.

Spectators stand in front of ice sculptures at the 27th Harbin Ice and Snow World festival.

Icy Wonderland

Ice sculptures at night

Ice sculptures lighted up at night

Fireworks mark the opening of the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival.

A workman walks near ice sculptures at the 12th Harbin Ice and Snow World display in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province

A workman sweeps in front of a snow sculpture of a large house, at a traffic intersection in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province

A worker installs lights on a snow sculpture prior to the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, Heilongjiang province

A woman slides down an ice slide at the Harbin festival

A visitor sits atop a snow sculpture at the 27th Harbin Ice and Snow World display.

A man takes a photograph using a camera phone as he walks past an ice sculpture on a main street in the northern city of Harbin in Heilongjiang province

A man wearing boxing gloves reacts to the crowd before diving into a pool carved out of the thick ice covering the Songhua River in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province

Ice art subjects can include European castles, cathedrals, pagodas, fortresses, well-known landmarks from all over the world, animals, gardens and scenes from Chinese folklore. It’s a winter wonderland! After dark, the sculptures come alive in a dazzling display of light and colour from the thousands of tiny lights hidden within and music warms up the atmosphere. ?

During the snow festival fantastic events are held, like firework displays, winter swimming, ice hockey games, football games in the snow, skiing races, speed skating races, sledge riding, poetry jamboree, wedding ceremonies, ice & snow cinematic festival. You can also feed the tigers, have a drink in one of the ice bars or even take a swim in the Songhua River (not for the faint of heart).

It is such a pity we can’t visit this festival but we can do the next best thing…take a short video tour.

The world will witness a marriage of Olympic-sized proportions tomorrow when China’s 2010 gold medal pair skaters Zhao Hongbo and Shen Xue get married in front of thousands of fans — on ice.

Zhao Hongbo and Shen Xue

The glittering wedding, scheduled to take place at Beijing’s Capital Gymnasium that has been decked out in sweeping red ribbons and spotlights, has been an affair three years in the making. Zhao proposed to Shen after a gold medal-winning performance at the 2007 World Figure Skating Championships. �Zhao shocked Shen by dropping to one knee at the centre of the rink in Tokyo and popping a marriage proposal. Misunderstanding at first, Shen got down on her knees too, in perplexed solidarity. When it finally dawned that Zhao had just asked her to marry him, Shen squeaked a yes, the crowd roared.

Though they had legally registered their marriage in China on May 28 2007, they have yet to go through a formal ceremony with their families and friends. Most Chinese do not consider a couple formally married until they have undergone a wedding ceremony.

They have been skating together since 1992, and fell in love between practices and competitions around the world. Through all those years they skated together, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo were not allowed to so much as kiss. The couple was under intense and overt scrutiny, living and training full-time for 15 years at their country’s figure skating incubator in distant, freezing Harbin, where romantic fraternization was strictly forbidden.

Shen and Zhao were the first Chinese pair team to win a medal at an International Skating Union event and at the World Figure Skating Championships. In 2002, they became the first Chinese pair skating team to win a World Championship.� In February 2010 in Vancouver, they became the first Chinese skaters to win the gold medal at a Winter Olympic Games in any figure skating category, ending almost half a century of Russian and Soviet pair skating dominance.

They are considered by many critics of the sport to be one of the best pair skating teams of all time. They are the world record holders for pairs’ score in the short program and in the combined total under the ISU Judging System.

It won’t be just any ordinary friends in attendance on Saturday evening. Taking part in the couple’s wedding will be some of the world’s best skating stars who have flown into Beijing to perform as their gift to the couple. 2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko of Russia will skate to “Sex Bomb” while Japan’s 2010 Olympic silver medalist Mao Asada will perform a tango-inspired program.

The men’s 2002 Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin of Russia and two-time World Champion Stephane Lambiel of Canada will also hit the ice with Zhao and Shen.

The newlyweds will conclude their wedding celebration with the classic “Turandot.”

Perhaps the only program that might outshine Zhao and Shen will be American Johnny Weir’s performance to Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” which is slated to immediately follow the wedding vows.

“So many of my fans want me to perform ‘Poker Face’ in China,” Weir told CNN. “Yes, I am a little nervous that I am going right after because Poker Face is a little bit dirty… but I am excited by the challenge.”

The bride and groom’s Olympic friends are tight-lipped about what they will give Zhao and Shen. “We have all been discussing what we will do but I can’t tell you what the gift it. It’s still a secret,” said 2010 Olympic bronze medalist Joannie Rochette of Canada.

“I have prepared a traditional Japanese gift for them,” Asada said.

China and the world are awaiting tomorrow night with bated breath to the wedding on ice.