Harbin extravaganza boosts China's ice-and-snow economy

The International Ice and Snow Festival kicked off Friday evening in Harbin, capital city of China's northernmost Heilongjiang province, adding steam to the country's burgeoning ice-and-snow economy.

Dubbed China's "ice city," the outdoor temperature in Heilongjiang falls to below minus 20 degrees Celsius in winter.

Harbin Ice-Snow World, built on the northern bank of the Songhua River which flows through the city, is a landmark ice-and-snow theme park listed by China's leading online travel agency Trip.com as the country's top snow and ice tourism site for New Year holiday travel.

The theme park, covering an area of 810,000 square meters, this year used a total of 250,000 cubic meters of ice and snow mined from the Songhua River for crafting sculptures such as castles and towers, which are illuminated by colorful lighting.

This year's scale of ice-and-snow sculptures in the park is the largest since it first opened in 1999, said Sun Zemin, marketing director of Harbin Ice and Snow World Park Co., Ltd., the theme park's operator.

The park offers more than 20 amusement activities including ice kart racing, snowmobile racing, snow drifting and snow yo-yo.