Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival features an entire ice and snow city

The 28th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in China, featuring work by some of the best ice sculptors and attracting thousands of visitors from around the world, will be opened on January 5, 2012.

The town of Harbin in northeast China, located near the border with Russia, has created an entire city carved out of ice and snow.

Spread out across three zones, the theme park features a range of snow-based rides, Ice Mountains and reproductions of some of the most iconic buildings in the world – all carved from giant blocks of ice and snow.

Harbin experiences dry but freezing winters and has an abundance of ice on tap from the nearby Songhau River.

Winter activities at the festival include Yabuli Alpine Skiing, winter-swimming and the ice-lantern exhibition in Zhaolin Garden.