Harbin gears up for ice fest

China's icy city of Harbin is gearing up for its annual ice festival, which begins Saturday. Workers are putting the finishing touches on the ice and snow masterpieces, while the first group of visitors has already arrived.

Ice castles stood tall ahead of the Chinese ice city's annual Snow and Ice Festival.

One day before the opening ceremony of the 29th Snow and Ice Festival, Harbin -- one of China's coldest hubs in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province -- saw temperatures dip to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Sun Xitong, deputy director of Construction Command Headquarters, said, "The Ice and Snow World covers an area of 750,000 square meters. The total amount of ice used is 180,000 cubic metres and snow 150,000 cubic metres. The number of workers building the Ice and Snow World this year is up to over 7,000. In the past months, temperature of the snow's surface was as low as minus 25 degree Celsius, which increases technical difficulties in construction."

Artificial snow machines blew in full force in the festival's main attraction, which is expected to attract one million visitors.

Workers made final preparations as the clock ticked closer to Saturday's opening night.

Ice sculptor Gu Changzhe said, "This year we experienced very cold weather with abundant snow so we worked very hard. But we are determined to devote ourselves to ice culture development."

Some tourists were wandering in the ice wonderland in hopes of avoiding crowds. With various ice masterpieces and ice slides, many visitors said they had fun.

Tourist Tan Xu said, "It's indeed so big that I have not yet visited every corner of the park. It's the perfect combination of ice and art. It could be the best in the world from its scale, as well as its ice and snow."

The Ice and Snow World is known for its scenic view at night -- with colourful lights glowing beneath the glistening ice.

A ticket is priced at 300 yuan.