Rachelle's Reading List: Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

China's Ice and Snow Festival. [Flavorpill via thefoxisblack]

These photos from China’s Ice and Snow Festival are pretty crazy. The festival, which opened last week, can be found in the city of Harbin, and it attracts about 800,000 visitors a year. Filled with ice palaces, pagodas and skyscrapers; it’s an incredible sight and every year it attracts an international roster of ice sculptors. The intricate sculptures and structures are carved from giant blocks of ice taken from the surface of the nearby Soghua river. Sculptors use chisels, ice picks and saws to carve the ice. Many sculptors also use multicolored lights to add the impressive colors you see in the pictures above. The Harbin festival is one of the world’s four largest ice and snow festivals. More ice sculptures can be seen at the likes of Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival.