By Brett Gillin
Last week, the Harbin Ice Festival officially kicked off in China. What’s that you ask? It’s quite literally the most insane ice and snow-centric festival in the world. This year’s theme, “Ice Snow Harbin, Charming China Dream,” may not mean much to the average American, but one look at the main event is certain to delight anyone. The main event, in it’s 27th year, is the International Snow Sculpture Art Expo, which runs through February. Below, we’ve collected some of the most impressive sculptures, some of which are literally as large as medieval castles!
1: We don’t care if it’s made out of snow, ice, or sleet: This sculpture of a lion riding a dragon is bad ass!
2: In an alternate universe Mount Rushmore consists of chipmunks riding wave runners!
3: This snow and ice castle is larger than life, with enough room to house a few dozen families.
4: Believe it or not, this is completely made out of ice and stands over 50 feet tall!
5: Don’t think these sculptures are just for looks. Many of them are actually designed so tourists can walk through them and even take a little ride down the ice slides.
6: If gigantic ice castles aren’t enough to keep your attention, maybe the ones lit with hundreds of neon lights will make you stop to pause for a moment.
7: The Chinese interpretation of Santa Claus is just as jolly as here in the states. Not a huge fan of the beard though.
8: Here’s an interesting take on Lady Liberty
9: Forget what I said about the lion and dragon sculpture.. THIS is bad ass!
10: Time to let it go Elsa, this is the brightest snow castle we’ve ever seen!
And here are a few more masterpieces for your viewing pleasure.
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