International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, Harbin, China

© WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Image

Chisels and chills. International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, Harbin, China

Sculptors from around the world head to the Chinese city of Harbin at this time of year for the world's largest ice and snow festival. From the frozen waters of the Songhua River, they carve more than 2,000 towering ice sculptures including castles, temples, animals, mythical figures, and massive ice slides. The stunning ice creations are illuminated at night in many colors, adding a new dimension to the spectacle.

The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, in China's northernmost province Heilongjiang, began as a garden party with ice lanterns in 1963. Today it attracts millions of visitors each year. In 2007, a team of 600 sculptors created the world's largest snow sculpture here, an Olympic-themed landscape measuring 115 feet in height and 656 feet in length.