Snow and Ice

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope, it’s just one of many ice sculptures competing at China’s annual Snow and Ice Festival. Birds, buffalos and the more mythological creatures are just some of the designs imagined up at this year’s contest. This sculptor explained the symbolic meaning behind his piece is meant to express the “contents of a kind-hearted inner beauty“. The festival, now in its 32nd year, ploughs through a huge 1.5 million cubic meters of snow, attracting thousands of tourists to watch the sculptors at work, and making it the largest snow spectacle of its kind. Initially, participants were primarily Chinese, but now it attracts sculptors from far and wide. This Spanish chiseller observes the difference in climate to his hometown. “It looks warmer than last year and a few years ago that for our body it’s better because I came from Barcelona and it’s really warm weather.” Clearly, a lot of skill, talent and icy determination go behind these sculptures.