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China's elaborate winter festival is now a graveyard of melting ice castles. Take a look.https://www.businessinsider.in/miscellaneous/chinas-elaborate-winter-festival-is-now-a-graveyard-of-melting-ice-castles-take-a-look-/slidelist/68647070.cms2019-03-30T19:03:25+05:30

China's elaborate winter festival is now a graveyard of melting ice castles. Take a look.

Mar 30, 2019, 19:03 IST

The Harbin Ice and Snow Festival opened on January 5 in northeastern China.

Not only is it the world's biggest ice and snow festival, but it also features the largest ice sculptures seen anywhere.

Artists use about 110,000 cubic meters of ice to execute their intricate designs.

At night, the sculptures transform into a multicolored playground.

The event officially ends on February 5, but attractions often stay open as long as weather permits.

The festival's more than 100 landmarks include replicas of real-life buildings, like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

By late February, the once-pristine sculptures started to slope and cave in.

The festival ended early this year because of a sudden bout of warm weather, which forced the structures to thaw.

This church sculpture lost its roof and stain glass windows.

Many tourists were angry to learn that they could no longer visit after booking their train tickets and hotels.

The site now looks like a graveyard of melting ice, but the festival is used to this cycle of birth and decay.

It has existed in some form since the 1960s, when Harbin hosted its first ice lantern show.

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