When 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.