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The northern Chinese city of Harbin, famed for its winter festival and ice sculptures, has this year adopted a Winter Olympics theme.

Held each year during winter, ice sculptures are erected throughout the city at what has become the largest ice and snow festival in the world.

As a result, Harbin has turned ice and snow tourism into a visible driver of its economy, with ice and snow-themed activities including art, fashion, economy and trade, sports and tourism.

To mark Beijing’s staging of the 2022 Winter Olympics, which starts next month, Harbin Ice and Snow World has created a series of ice sculptures themed around the Games.

The seasonal theme park, which has to be recreated each year with new ice sculptures made from made from blocks of one metre³ ice taken directly from the Songhua River, has also included Yabuli alpine skiing, winter-swimming in the Songhua River and an ice-lantern exhibition.

First opened in 1999, Harbin Ice and Snow World covers an area of 820,000 metre² and includes 400,000 metre² of ice and snow landscapes and sculptures.

Images: Night view of Harbin Ice and Snow World (top) and the 'top of the fire' exhibit, an Olympic torch-shaped 42-meter high ice tower at Harbin Ice and Snow World (below). Credit: Xinhua Silk Road.

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