Frozen towers, sculptures and whole buildings carved out of blocks of ice, which are decorated with colored lights, have drawn thousands of tourists to the 16^th Harbin Ice Festival, running from Monday through February 28.

China's northeastern city has been transformed into a winter wonderland at a time when the Songhua River turned to ice and temperatures dropped to -20 centigrade.

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The festival is considered a big spectacle of Chinese culture in the northeast. A student from Hebei province said the festival highlighted Harbin's important customs and creativity with local ice sculptures and works of art.

The festival attracts visitors from China and beyond, such as Tanvamon Pullapalin, a visiting student from Thailand. He said he came to Harbin to enjoy the freezing weather and the ice palaces, something never seen in his native country.

Harbin locals said the Ice and Snow World is the top draw among Harbin's cold attractions.

Carvers and sculptors are busy transforming a giant block of snow into the Greek god of love. Workers use every tool at their disposal - rakes, scrapers and other hand tools - to bring a statue to life while crowds look on.

Ice artists said the carving method is a traditional process. First, workers take out huge blocks of ice from the frozen Songhua River and load them onto forklifts to wheel them into place. Sculptors then carve the outline and the design before handy tools are used to chip out the details. In about a day, what used to be a big snow cube slowly turned into the face of a famous celestial being.

In other parts of the city, tourists flock to check out the ice architecture and figures at the Sun Island Park, the site of the International Snow Sculpture Art Expo. The biggest sculptures in the expo stand more than 10 meters, dwarfing other statues in the city.

TagsHarbin City, Ice festival, 16th Harbin Ice Festival, ice sculpture