The annual Harbin Ice and Snow Festival opens in late December and lasts for around 2 months, till late February of the next year.
The official opening ceremony will be on January 5th, 2025, but the ice and snow sculptures are open to public viewing before the ceremony.
For the 2025–2026 winter season, Harbin Ice and Snow World, the main venue of the Ice and Snow Festival, is expected to open between December 20 and 25. You can now book your Harbin tour with us. Once the Ice and Snow World opens, we'll secure your tickets immediately.
To enjoy the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, we suggest allocating one day. If you wish to visit other attractions in Harbin or extend your trip to Snow Town or Changbai Mountain, it is recommended to spend around 5 to 7 days.
Content Preview
- Best Times for the Harbin Ice Festival
- Location and Venue for the Ice Festival
- How to Plan a Harbin Ice Festival Tour
- Facts on Harbin Ice Festival
What Is the Best Time for the Harbin Ice Festival?
From Christmas Day to mid-February, the main attractions, such as Ice and Snow World and Sun Island, are open to visitors.
- Want to be the first ones to enjoy the festival: around Christmas. But this is also a busy period.
- To join in the grand celebrations: January 5th for the opening ceremony and December 31st for the fireworks.
- To avoid large crowds: From January 6th to 20th and in February, when the sculptures and facilities are well established, but visitors are fewer.
So, how should I avoid the crowds? If you have plenty of time in Harbin, to avoid the rush hours, you may consider entering before 2 pm and re-entering after 8 pm for night views.
Two entrance tickets are needed if you choose to visit in this way. If you are planning a Harbin tour and book a tour, please contact us or see our popular Harbin Tours for inspiration.
Enter before 2 pm and re-enter after 8 pm, you will have just yourself and the one you love in the photo.Top 3 Places to Enjoy the Harbin Ice Festival
Ice and snow sculptures are dotted throughout Harbin city, but there are three main venues with different exhibitions to celebrate the festival.
- Harbin Ice and Snow World — a Colorful "Ice Disneyland"
- Sun Island — See the Art of Snow Sculpting
- Zhaolin Park — Small but Lovely Ice Lanterns
1) Harbin Ice and Snow World — a Colorful "Ice Disneyland"
Elsa's Ice Palace in Real Life at the Ice Festival.When talking about Harbin Ice Festival, people are typically referring to the Harbin Ice and Snow World, which displays ice sculptures of huge proportions and opens from 11am to 10pm each day.
It would be the largest-scale one with one million square meters, incorporating the elements of the Asian Winter Games.
Best time to enter: Harbin gets dark at around 4 pm in winter. The best time to enter the ice world is around 3 pm to appreciate the transparent and shining ice sculptures in the daytime, soon followed by the dazzling colors and light effects at night.
It is recommended to spend no more than 4 hours inside the ice world, since it is well below freezing, especially after sunset.
You could also immerse yourself in many popular classic activities, such as exquisite ice sculpture appreciation, Snow Ferris Wheel, Harbin show (dances, ice acrobatics, etc.), delicious local cuisine, disco dance carnival, RV Campground, and ice activities like skating, skiing, and ice biking.
2) Sun Island — See the Art of Snow Sculpting
Snow Sculptures in HarbinThe Sun Island venue, or the International Snow Sculpture Art Expo, is another important event of the Harbin Ice Festival. Square miles of giant snow sculptures made by artists from all over the world are displayed there.
Best time to enter: It is open from 8 am to 4 pm, and it usually takes 2–3 hours for a full visit. Unlike the better-known ice sculptures, the snow sculptures are not lit up at night and are best seen in sunlight.
So we suggest visiting here in the morning and going to the Ice and Snow World in the afternoon. Start at 10 o'clock when the sunlight is just right and warm, and enter the Ice and Snow World at 3 p.m. See our One Day Harbin Ice and Snow Fairyland Tour.
Activities to take:
- Admire the massive snow-white sculptures.
- Have fun with the various snow sports. Compared with the entertainment at the Ice and Snow World, you are likely to find fewer people there, so you can feel freer to enjoy the displays and have fun.
3) Zhaolin Park — Small but Lovely Ice Lanterns
Harbin Zhaolin ParkSmall ice slides in Zhaolin Park, suitable for kids.The Zhaolin Park is mostly an ice world focused on small kids. The ice lantern sculptures are mainly made by college students or young ice sculpture enthusiasts. Over 300 fine ice sculptures are displayed, including internally-illuminated ice lanterns, magical figures, and animals that are loved by children.
There are fun activities that kids may enjoy, such as small ice slides. You may also find some un-carved ice blocks inside the park which are used for family competitions. If you happen to be there with an ice sculpture competition, join in for fun.
Unlike the other two venues, which charge a comparatively high entrance fee, Zhaolin Park is free to enter.
The park is usually open from 9am to 9pm. Choose a convenient time to visit around your other activities, as it is perfectly located in the city center.
How to Plan a Wise Ice Festival Tour in Harbin?
1) Get Harbin Ice and Snow Festival tickets in advance.
Winter is the peak season in Harbin.
Official online booking is only open to domestic travelers with a Resident Identity Card. For foreign passport holders, you can buy on arrival or submit an inquiry below. We'll keep you on the priority list and contact you to confirm the booking once the tickets are officially available.
2) Book the tickets to get to Harbin as early as you can.
Harbin can be reached by bullet trains and flights.
For coming from northern China, like Beijing, the bullet train takes no more than 5 hours. If you are coming from the eastern or southern part, a flight is recommended.
Book the flight tickets as early as you can, you would find limited discounts on airfare when time is getting close. It is the high season of traveling in Harbin in winter.
3) Choose the right accommodation in Harbin.
Hotels with affordable prices are mainly located near the Central Street of Harbin, within walking distance of the main sightseeing sites like the St. Sofia Orthodox Church and Zhaolin Park, and are convenient for shopping, eating out, and night activities.
The journey from here to the Ice and Snow World takes about 20 to 30 minutes by car.
For a luxury experience or family-friendly hotels, you may choose to stay in the Songbei District area, where many high-standard luxury hotels and family-friendly hotels are located.
You are welcome to contact us for more hotel recommendations.
4) Arrange your ride after sightseeing in advance.
It is difficult and also not recommended to take public transportation to/from the festival venues.
Why? With so many people rushing to the festival venues, you may not be able to get on a bus or find a taxi. It will be freezing cold outdoors, and even if you are clothed heavily, while waiting on the streets, with scarcely a taxi even stopping, you could find yourself getting cold quickly.
If you are lucky enough to find one, the buses/taxis still stop about 2–3 km (1–2 miles) from the entrance. You may find it a big challenge to walk a long way in the snow and on the icy pavements.
When you finish your adventure, cold and tired, it could be a nightmare to find a taxi back. This is not an unrealistic threat, but a genuine experience of many, as attested by feedback from visitors attending the Ice Festival in previous years.
If you are looking for an unbeatable Ice Festival experience that will satisfy all your group members, we suggest booking a private tour with worry-free transfers.
With a professional plan by us, you would avoid long queues and make the most of your time at the festival. We can create a trip that is right for you. You can tell us your needs.
5) Pack for Harbin Ice Festival
Keep Warm during Harbin Ice FestivalHarbin also called "the Ice City" is always well below 0°C in mid-winter. It could feel comparatively "warm" in the daytime in the sunlight, but pay special attention to keeping warm during the evening.
Here are some tips to prevent harm from the cold:
- Sub-zero clothing: In Harbin in winter, the temperature is typically from -25°C (-13°F) to -10°C (14°F), and that's without wind chill! Hence thermal underwear, gloves, (scarves, earmuffs), hats, (face masks), and thick arctic clothing and boots are necessary. If you have ski boots, they would be ideal.
- Wear sunglasses, or better still snow glasses, to prevent snow blindness.
- Drink plenty of fluids: Despite the cold, it is very dry in Harbin (average humidity 2%).
- Frostbite prevention: If your hands or feet feel cold, move around or head indoors. If they go numb, avoid hot water or direct heat — instead, go somewhere warm and rub them gently to restore circulation.
- Protect your camera batteries and mobile phones: In the cold, phone and camera batteries last only about half as long as usual. Keep them warm inside your jacket, and carry spare batteries if you plan to take lots of photos.
5) Eat in Harbin
Harbin Food: Fried Pork in ScoopHarbin cuisine is a type of Northeast China cuisine, with strong flavors and a richness of calories and salt to combat the harsh weather. Harbin dumplings and their stew dishes are highly recommended. Bordering Russia, you can also find authentic Russian restaurants in Harbin.
While you may find it is most convenient to have your dinner inside Harbin Ice and Snow World rather than the city center, don't worry: there are different types of restaurants for you to choose from — from local Harbin cuisine to Western fast food like KFC and Pizza Hut, etc.
6) Enliven your Harbin Ice Festival Tour: There's More to Explore…
Harbin is not just about the Ice and Snow Festival: there are many more interesting and fun things for you to explore.
A mind-blowing show of winter swimming: winter swimming enthusiasts of different ages, including seniors, drill a hole in the solid Songhua River, build a diving platform with ice blocks, and dive into this icy "swimming pool" in just their swimsuits.
Winter Swimming in the Icy Songhua RiverUnbeatable fairy-tale games for families: Songhua River can be frozen up to 4–5 months a year, when the Songhua River Ice Carnival offers fun to all comers, especially kids and anyone who rarely plays in the snow and ice. Ice games and activities like ice go-carting, ice sledging, ice slides, ice mobiles, ice horse rides, and ice bikes are offered.
Have Fun on the Frozen Songhua RiverSee our 9-Day Beijing and Harbin Ice and Snow Family Tour
Surprising Facts on Harbin Ice Festival
1) How is the Harbin ice world made?
In early December, a traditional Ice Harvest Ceremony is held on the frozen Songhua River in Harbin. From then on, thousands of workers cut and collect ice blocks from the river while artists carve and connect the blocks to create various sculptures or buildings. In around 3–4 weeks, Harbin is transformed into a winter wonderland.
2) How do artists in Harbin make ice sculptures?
First, workers obtain the materials — ice blocks from the Songhua River.
Then, the ice blocks are transported to the venue and stuck together to form large shapes of the desired dimensions.
Finally, the artists use tools, such as shovels and saws to cut, polish, and shape the ice sculptures that are finally presented to visitors.
3) Why is the Harbin Ice Festival so special?
This winter wonderland is dazzlingly awesome, yet ephemeral. It is a large project, but short-lived: it lasts no more than 2 months.
How big is it? Consider the amount of ice used: over 200,000 cubic meters (80 Olympic pools). As a normal truck carries 4–7 cubic meters of ice blocks per time, at least 30,000 to 50,000 truck journeys are used for transportation.
4) What happens to the ice sculptures after the festival?
Temperatures in Harbin stay well below 0°C (32°F) for the three months of the Ice and Snow Festival. The ice sculptures do not melt until March or April when the weather gradually warms up.
Some small ice sculptures are safe to let melt naturally. Some large ice sculptures that are dangerous when they collapse during the melting process are dismantled by construction demolition methods, e.g. implosion blasting or excavator and breaker.
(10,000+ reviews)