Celebrating old arts in new forms

The art of ice sculpture emerged in Heilongjiang in 1963, and its capital city, Harbin, is believed to be the birthplace of the nation's ice lantern art. Launched in 1999, the Harbin Ice and Snow World has increasingly become a popular destination for international visitors, renowned for its grand, artistic and exquisite crystal-clear ice sculptures.

Zhu Xiaodong, a professor at East University of Heilongjiang, has been devoted to ice and snow art for about 50 years, mentoring tens of thousands of students thus far.

"Ice carving is not easy, especially the large-scale sculptures. Ice is fragile, and you'll barely have any chance to make up for your mistakes if you are not well-prepared, the sculpture is not carefully designed, or you lack skilled hands," says Zhu.

Beyond the intangible cultural heritage of ice sculptures, Zhu also creates ice-engraved paintings — rubbings of engraved ice molds. At the booth, he skillfully demonstrated how to make the ice mold and his unique painting technique as the ice melted.