An icy blast

While birds fly south for the winter, people in China head north to see one of the country's most spectacular sights - the ice sculptures of Harbin.

The Harbin Ice and Snow World, a theme park covering 750,000 square meters, makes up one of the world's four largest ice events. Provided to China Daily

For a genuine taste of winter, combined with some of China's most amazing, if temporary, sights, the place to head for is Harbin in Heilongjiang province. With a latitude as high as 46, similar to Vancouver, Harbin's winter lasts for about four months a year with temperatures falling to as low as - 40 C, which provides the city with an abundance of natural ice and snow.

Along with Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada's Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway's Ski Festival, Harbin Festival, which began in 1985, is one of the world's four largest ice and snow events.

It starts on Jan 5 and lasts for a month, during which time it overlaps with some of China's most important traditional festivals, including Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival.

Visitors walk through in Harbin's Ice and Snow World.

1. Sun Island Park

Sun Island Park is said to be where Chinese ice sculpture originated. An exhibition of sculptures here runs for 60 to 70 days thanks to the city's weather.

With the varied styles and enormous size of its ice sculptures, the Sun Island Festival is also known as the world's largest ice and snow carnival.