Harbin’s city of ice: the sculptures, the river ice and how to visit

What happens in the video

National Geographic published this short travel film in December 2017, and it runs just under two minutes. Its description frames the festival as the way people in Harbin brighten the long, frigid months: by carving fantastical frozen sculptures for an event that takes place in January and February. It also traces how the festival grew from a mostly regional affair into a major international event with its own sculpture competition.

The channel pairs the clip with a Nat Geo Travel story about the ice city coming alive with colored lights, a reminder that the sculptures are as much a night-time sight as a daytime one. The film is a mood piece rather than a guide, so the sections below fill in how the ice city is made and how to see it yourself.

How Harbin builds a city of ice

Harbin is the capital of Heilongjiang, China’s northeasternmost province, and it has turned its cold into a winter industry. China Daily dates the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival to 1985, with an official opening on January 5 each year. Its largest venue, Harbin Ice and Snow World, was started by the city government in 1999 to welcome the new millennium and has been rebuilt from scratch every winter since. The park usually opens weeks before the festival’s official start.

The building material comes from the river. Workers cut blocks from the frozen Songhua River, and in December 2025 China Daily reported that the city’s sixth ice harvest festival opened on the riverbank with a blessing and workers in traditional costume hauling out the first block. River ice is used because man-made ice contains air bubbles and lacks the strength needed for carving, according to China Daily, which also reported that about 200,000 cubic meters of the previous winter’s ice had been kept in insulated storage for more than 10 months so building could start early.

The result is huge. The 27th edition opened on December 17, 2025, and People’s Daily reported that it covered 1.2 million square meters and used 400,000 cubic meters of ice and snow. A warm spell cut the season short: the park closed on February 21, 2026 as the sculptures began to melt, and the operator offered refunds and free entry to the next edition for some late-February ticket holders. In October 2026 Xinhua reported that the 2026–27 park will grow to 1.25 million square meters with more than 1,000 ice and snow structures.

How to visit Harbin Ice and Snow World

• When to go: The park opens in mid to late December and stays open until the thaw, usually into late February. The 2026–27 opening date had not been announced when this page was written, so confirm it before booking flights or trains.
• Tickets: Book online in advance through the park’s official WeChat account or on Alipay or Meituan. For the 2025–26 season, People’s Daily reported a standard adult price of 328 yuan, with a launch-week offer of 298 yuan.
• Time of day: Arriving in the late afternoon lets you see the carving detail in daylight and then the lights after dark.
• Cold: Dress in layers and cover your face, hands and feet. Keep your phone in an inside pocket: batteries drain fast in deep cold, and you need the phone for tickets, payment and a ride back.
• More to see: In the same season, Sun Island hosts a snow sculpture expo with around 260 sculptures, and an ice and snow carnival runs on the frozen Songhua River.

Harbin is on China’s high-speed rail network, so it can be combined with Beijing; see the high-speed train guide. Paying for tickets, snacks and rides is easiest with a phone wallet, which the Alipay and WeChat Pay guide explains. If you like big night-time spectacles, Chongqing’s record-breaking drone show is the warm-weather counterpart.

Mandarin you can use at the gates

Entry works with a QR code or the passport you booked with, so the useful phrases are about showing what you’ve already bought and asking staff to scan it. In the crowds, asking someone to take your photo in front of a sculpture is a good icebreaker. The ticket lesson, entry lesson and photo lesson cover these with audio.