Venue
Songbei District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
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Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival guide
Ice buildings beside a frozen river.
In short
The Harbin festival suits travellers ready for real cold in return for full-size ice buildings lit from within. The official opening is traditionally 5 January, with parks opening in late December, but 2026-27 dates were not announced by October 2026. Plan two days for Ice and Snow World, Sun Island and Zhaolin Park.
The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival turns the capital of Heilongjiang, in China's far north-east, into a city of illuminated ice every winter. Whole buildings, towers and slides are sawn from blocks cut out of the frozen Songhua River, then lit from inside so that they glow in colour after dark.
The festival is spread across several sites. Harbin Ice and Snow World holds the full-size ice architecture, Sun Island across the river is given over to huge snow sculptures, and Zhaolin Park in the city keeps the older tradition of ice lanterns alive.
The cold is part of the experience. January afternoons in Harbin rarely climb above minus ten, and the sculptures last precisely because of it, so a visit is as much about dressing properly and pacing yourself as about the ice itself.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Where: Harbin, China
Venue: Harbin Ice and Snow World
Held: Every year
Type of event: Leisure Events, Cultural Events, Winter Festivals
Currency: Renminbi (CNY, ¥)
Time zone: China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Map
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Clothing for extreme cold
The cold in Harbin is dry and steady, and it is the single thing that decides how long you can stay out.
- Layers
- thermal base layer, fleece or wool mid-layer and a windproof down coat that covers your hips.
- Extremities
- thin gloves under insulated mittens, a hat that covers the ears and a scarf or neck gaiter for your face.
- Feet
- insulated, waterproof boots with a good grip, with wool socks and room for your toes to move.
- Breaks
- the parks have heated halls and food stalls; go in every hour or so before you feel you need to.
Walking on ice and avoiding evening crowds
Paths inside the parks are packed snow and polished ice, and evenings draw the biggest crowds.
- Walk slowly with short steps, and slip-on crampons or cleats help a great deal on ramps and stairs.
- Arrive mid-afternoon to see the site in daylight, then stay on as the lights come on, ahead of the evening rush at the gates.
- Agree a meeting point with your group; it is easy to lose people in the dark and the cold makes phones unreliable.
- Keep hand warmers in your pockets and drink something hot regularly. Alcohol makes you feel warmer while cooling you down faster.
What happens on the day
- Early December
Cutting the river ice
Crews saw blocks from the frozen Songhua and haul them to the sites, where building starts.
- Second half of December
Parks open
Ice and Snow World usually admits its first visitors before the official start.
- 5 January
Official opening
The traditional date for the festival's opening, kept since its revival in 1985.
- January
Peak season
The coldest and most reliable weeks, with competitions and the fullest programme.
- Late February
Closing
Displays shut as temperatures rise and the ice begins to soften.
Choosing which sites to visit and buying tickets
Each site sells its own admission, so plan which of the three you want to see. There is no single festival pass. Ice and Snow World is the largest and the one most visitors build their evening around; Sun Island and Zhaolin Park can be fitted into the following day. Two full days in the city covers the festival comfortably, with time left for the old Central Street and the Russian-era architecture.
The best weeks are early to mid-January, when the cold is reliable and the official programme is running. Late February brings milder air and a quieter feel, but some sculptures start to soften. For the wider trip, our China travel page is a good place to start.
The festival's history since the 1963 ice lantern show
The festival began modestly. In 1963 Harbin held an ice lantern show and garden party, a local winter custom of setting candles inside shaped blocks of ice. The event stopped during the Cultural Revolution and came back on 5 January 1985 as an annual festival based at Zhaolin Park, which is why that date is still kept for the official opening.
It grew steadily from there. The present formal name arrived in 2001, and the arrival of Ice and Snow World turned the event into a large illuminated park of full-size ice buildings. By 2025 that park alone covered around 120 hectares.
Sculptors now come from many countries to compete, and the snow sculpture on Sun Island has its own international following. The ice still comes from the same place it always did: the river that freezes solid through the city every winter.
Getting there
Flying in
Harbin Taiping International Airport has domestic connections across China and some international routes, and lies south-west of the city.
By high-speed rail
Harbin is linked into China's high-speed network, with direct trains from Beijing and other northern cities.
To Ice and Snow World
The park is on the north bank of the Songhua River in Songbei District; a taxi from the centre takes around half an hour depending on traffic.
Getting back at night
Taxis queue at the park gates at closing time, so leave a little early or book a car if travelling in a group.
Where to stay during the festival
Most visitors base themselves near Central Street and the riverside in Daoli District, close to Zhaolin Park and a short drive from the ice parks. Hotels on the north bank put you nearer Ice and Snow World and Sun Island but further from restaurants and the old town.
Book early for January weekends and the run-up to Chinese New Year, when rooms fill fast.
Weather and what to pack
Harbin has one of the coldest winters of any large city. Its 1991-2020 normals give January an average daily high of -11.8°C and a low of -22.4°C, with only about 3.8 mm of precipitation in the month. The record low is -42.6°C.
Expect dry, clear and very cold days, with temperatures dropping sharply once the sun sets in the late afternoon.
Worth packing
- A windproof down coat that covers the hips
- Thermal base layers top and bottom
- Insulated mittens with thin liner gloves
- A hat covering the ears and a neck gaiter
- Insulated waterproof boots and wool socks
- Slip-on ice cleats
- Hand and foot warmers
- A power bank kept in an inside pocket
Car hire in Harbin
Airport transfer to Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival
Met at arrivals and driven door to door to Harbin Ice and Snow World.
Restaurants and food in China
Places to eat in China before or after the celebrations.
Tao Tao Ju (Dishifu Road)
1F, 20 Dishifu Road, Liwan District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Cuisine:CantoneseDim sum
- Dine-in
Chen Mapo Tofu (Qinghua Road)
No. 10-12, 10 Qinghua Road, Qingyang District, Chengdu, China
Cuisine:SichuanChinese
- Dine-in
Nanxiang Steamed Bun (City God Temple)
85 Yuyuan Road, City God Temple, Huangpu District, Shanghai, China
Cuisine:ShanghaineseDumplings
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Quanjude (Qianmen)
30 Qianmen Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100051, China
Cuisine:Peking duckBeijing
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Timing & weather
The official opening is traditionally held on 5 January, the date on which the revived festival was announced in 1985. The main ice parks usually let visitors in a couple of weeks earlier, in the second half of December.
The displays generally stay open from late December until late February, for as long as the temperature keeps the ice solid. Some venues close earlier if a mild spell arrives.
General
Most of it is cut from the frozen surface of the Songhua River, which runs through the city. The blocks are roughly 60 to 90 cm thick, sawn out and hauled to the sites before carving starts.
Ice and Snow World is the park of full-size ice buildings lit from within, best seen after dark. Sun Island, on the same bank of the river, specialises in snow sculpture, which looks its best in daylight.
Both, for different reasons. Snow sculptures need daylight to show their detail, while the ice buildings are designed around their lighting and only come alive once it is dark, which in Harbin in January is around half past four.
Blocks are cut with swing saws, stacked with water used as mortar, and then shaped with chisels, ice picks and hand saws. Clear ice can be made with deionised water, while river ice has a faintly translucent look.
Yes. In 2007 it was awarded a Guinness World Record for the largest snow sculpture, a piece 250 metres long and 8.5 metres high that used more than 13,000 cubic metres of snow.
Its roots go back to an ice lantern show and garden party first held in 1963. That was halted during the Cultural Revolution, revived as an annual event in 1985, and given its present formal name in 2001.
In the depths of winter the river freezes hard enough for organised activities on the ice near the city centre. Stay within marked areas run by operators and never venture onto unmarked ice, especially early or late in the season.
Not for long. Lithium batteries drain quickly at minus twenty, so keep your phone in an inside pocket close to your body, carry a power bank there too, and take it out only to shoot.
Harbin falls in the weeks before Chinese New Year, so a longer trip can run into the Spring Festival celebrations elsewhere in the country. Bear in mind that transport and hotels across China become very busy around the holiday itself.