ice cubes byudiubg

Boy, It’s Cold Out There!

ice cubes byudiubgWhen we think of ice houses and structures, we usually conjure up images of igloos, the half domes with an entrance that we see in cartoons and perhaps a photo of a real one from some old social studies book. In China, there are ice structures at a different level – 600,000 square meters of ice buildings. It is a spectacle to be sure, to see the Empire State Building in China, made of ice. You can also see and walk upon ice bridges, see ice temples, and slide down a frozen slide of cut ice cubes. It is called the Harbin Ice Lantern Festival and it takes place annually in a very northern, very cold area of China.

We have not visited there and wonder when it all melts. Must be quite the wet mess at that point!

There is a great slide show of the frozen city here, in the New York Times.

If your lucky, you can visit Harbin, China to see the Harbin Ice Lantern Festival. A teacher in Arizona has some interesting facts and photos about the festival.