Temperatures Expected to Stay Above Freezing Until the 21st
"Temporarily Closed for Tourist Safety"
The famous ice festival "Ice and Snow World" in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China, has been suspended for two days due to the recent warm weather.
On the 20th (local time), the organizers of the Ice and Snow World festival announced on their official social media account that "as temperatures have risen above freezing for two consecutive days, the ice and snow landscapes in the venue are expected to be affected," adding, "For the safety of tourists and other reasons, we will temporarily close on the 20th and 21st." Operations will resume at 5 p.m. on the 22nd, and the organizers plan to lower ticket prices.
The famous ice festival "Ice and Snow World" in Harbin, Heilongjiang province in northeastern China was suspended for two days due to warmer weather over the past few days. Getty Images
According to Chinese portal sites such as Baidu, the maximum temperature in Harbin is expected to reach 0 degrees Celsius on the 19th, 8 degrees on the 20th, and 9 degrees on the 21st, during the latter half of the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) holiday, all above freezing. On the 23rd, the maximum temperature is forecast to drop back below freezing.
Chinese media outlet "Shangyou News" also reported that a recent inspection of ice sculptures in other parts of Harbin found signs of melting and cracking in some of them. "No entry" signs were installed in front of some large ice sculptures.
Meanwhile, Ice and Snow World is a festival that uses ice from the Songhua River, which runs through Heilongjiang Province, to create massive ice structures over an area of about 1.2 million square meters. It operates every year from late December until February of the following year, and the temperature must be low because the ice is taken from the frozen river. In winter, the minimum temperature in Harbin is around minus 22 to 24 degrees Celsius.
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