The Remarkable Multi Coloured Ice Sculptures Go On Display at the Chinese Festival of Ice

It's amid the planet’s most magnificent tourist attractions, but you’ll need to be fast if you want to visit this specific show as it will be gone within a few weeks.

These freezing marvels make up part of a show at the 31st Harbin International Ice and Snow festival held in Harbin, which is near the border shared with Russia in the North-eastern part of China. The fortresses and statues are crafted from hollow chunks of ice and then lit up by means of LED lights to create a multi-coloured vista on the shorelines of the close Songhua River.

The commemoration contains work by the China’s best ice sculptors and draws in thousands of guests from everywhere around the planet who gape at the astounding designs, relish the fireworks over the festival or play to their inner child as they take a tour on the ice slides. According to occasions managers, over 10,000 people were working to finish these frozen monuments.

Some of the pieces amount to over 26 metres in height and 117 metres in width. In total, the entire area is over 600,000 square metres and approximately 180,000 square metres of ice and 150,000 square metres of snow have been utilised to complete the whole thing.

Labourers have spent weeks sculpting huge blocks of ice for the festival which have come from the ice-covered Songhua River, before hauling the 250kg slabs on the road to the site.

The subject or theme of this year’s occasion is named as 'Happy Ice Snow, Thrilling City' when translated from its Chinese designation. The celebration began on the 5th January and is scheduled to come to an end on the 28th February 2015.When 2012 and 2013’s visitors are tallied up, the brief man-made ice display managed to attract a combined total of 28,000,000 guests.

Harbin is nicknamed the 'Ice City' and although the midwinters are intensely icy, the settings are ideal for the festival. Sightseers can also take part in skiing, ice skating and theatrical concerts, and there is also an ice tavern in the grounds. Harbin's gala is one of world's four major global ice celebrations, alongside Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada's Quebec Winter Carnival, and Norway's Ski Festival.

Keep in mind that if you miss the festival this year then be sure to catch it next time around on one of your tours. This celebration usually starts around at the beginning of January.