This morning at around 4 a.m., ice-laden trucks began traveling continuously between Sifangtai Bridge and the Ice and Snow World site. Owing to flooding, blizzards, and high temperatures, this year’s ice harvesting period has been delayed by one week. Today is the first official day of ice harvesting for this winter’s Ice and Snow World. Currently, more than 700 ice-harvesting vehicles, five harvesting teams, and nearly 2,000 workers are involved in the ice collection. The daily ice harvest will reach over 10,000 cubic meters. Wang Zengyu, the executive manager of Ice and Snow World, stated that this year the park is expected to use 330,000 cubic meters of ice and snow combined, setting a new record in the park’s history.
At 9 a.m. today, reporters at the Sifangtai Bridge ice harvesting site of Ice and Snow World saw hundreds of workers braving the bitter cold, driving ice trucks, forklifts, and bulldozers as they worked busily on-site. According to staff on-site, the ice harvesting officially began at 4 a.m. today and is expected to be completed in 11 to 12 days, with the entire construction of Ice and Snow World finished within about half a month.
According to officials from Ice and Snow World, this year’s event is themed “The Dream of a Global Ice and Snow World: A Journey Through International Animation,” transforming Harbin’s Ice and Snow World into an expo of ice and snow anime. This edition features numerous highlights: First, the live ice and snow performances incorporate a large amount of high-tech elements, delivering a fashionable, modern, and dazzling artistic effect. Second, branded performance programs such as “Ice and Snow European Show” and the large-scale ice acrobatics show “Cool Harbin” have been introduced. “Cool Harbin” features, for the first time, the Pyongyang State Acrobatic Troupe of North Korea, combining world-class ice acrobatics skills with cutting-edge and fashionable artistic creativity to offer visitors a more perfect ice art extravaganza. Additionally, the park will host its first-ever “Ice and Snow Fashion Show,” allowing visitors to witness models perfectly interpreting fashion art on an ice runway, blending fashion elements with ice culture to deliver a powerful and stunning visual impact.
Officials from the park stated that the amount of ice and snow used for this winter’s ice and snow landscapes will reach new heights. “We expect to use 180,000 cubic meters of ice and 150,000 cubic meters of snow to create a breathtaking ice and snow spectacle within the 750,000-square-meter Ice and Snow World site, setting yet another historical record.” In addition, factors such as longer ice-harvesting transport distances and rising labor costs will increase this year’s ice harvesting expenses by about 30%. The official opening date of Ice and Snow World is still scheduled for January 5.