haerbin

Haerbin Lanterns of Heilongjiang

A magic world of ice and snow, bling! bling! bling!

🏮Introduction

Harbin’s Ice Lanterns? They’re the coolest winter playground EVER! Made from real ice — pulled right out of the Songhua River! Artists carve, chisel, and light them up with modern magic, so they sparkle like diamonds and glow like rainbows. Every year, it’s a brand-new fairy tale — that’s why people call it ‘the never-repeating storybook’!

📍Stories

Original stories

A long time ago, on February 7, 1963, Harbin’s Zhaolin Park held its very first Ice Lantern Fair. The lanterns were made by freezing water in buckets and putting candles inside. They looked simple, but everyone loved them, and so many people came to see the magical lights!

Technical development

At the second Ice Lantern Fair, people started using electric lights and carving shapes out of real ice. That was the start of modern ice-and-snow art!

Soon, the lanterns turned into big ice and snow sculptures, and Harbin became famous as a “Fairyland of Ice and Snow.”

The first Ice and Snow Festival

It was January 5, 1985, when Zhaolin Park in Harbin lit up with the opening of the first Ice and Snow Festival. This event made history as China’s first international celebration devoted entirely to ice and snow.

Culture and tales

Ice lanterns aren’t just pretty—they’re like winter memories for Harbin people. They show how clever and warm-hearted northerners can make the cold snow sparkle with fun and even bring good luck!

These days, ice lanterns are mixed with zodiac animals and old treasures. In 2025, a huge “Zodiac Beast Head Ice Sculpture” showed up—it joined Chinese treasures with ice and snow fun, and became a brand-new landmark everyone loves.