Icy days and nights

People
visit an ice sculpture for the 25th Harbin International Ice and Snow
Festival at a park in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province December 23, 2008.
The 25th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will kicked off on
January 5, 2009. Picture taken December 23, 2008. (REUTERS/Sheng Li)

2

Fishermen
drill a hole through the two-foot-thick ice to put their net into the
frozen Chagan Lake on December 24, 2008 in Songyuan, Jilin Province,
China. Chagan Lake is one of the ten biggest fresh water lakes in China
and winter fishing on the lake has a history of over 2,000 years. The
local authorities organize the old tradition aimed to attract a lot of
tourists and make the lake a popular tourist destination in winter.
(Guang Niu/Getty Images) #

3

Chinese
visitors get a preview of the 25th Harbin International Ice and Snow
Festival at a park in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang province
on December 24, 2008. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images) #

4

A
swan attempts to land on a frozen lake near Castleford northern England
Monday Jan. 5, 2009. Freezing temperatures and snow have struck large
areas of Britain. (AP Photo/ John Giles/PA) #

5

Chinese
visitors get a preview of the 25th Harbin International Ice and Snow
Festival at a park in Harbin, China on December 24, 2008.
(Stringer/AFP/Getty Images) #

6

Skaters
compete on a track of ice created from grassland sprayed with water, in
the northern Dutch province of Frieslands on December 29, 2008. (ROBIN
UTRECHT/AFP/Getty Images) #

7

Visitors
attend the opening of the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival held in Harbin,
China on Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #

8

After
being pronounced husband and wife, Michael and Sigret Cook, center,
exit the ice chapel built for their wedding on Christmas Day Thursday
afternoon, Dec. 25, 2008 in Fairbanks, Alaska. (AP Photo/Fairbanks
Daily News-Miner, Johnny Wagner) #

9

Visitors
attend the opening of the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, China
on Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #

10

Italy's
Armin Zoeggeler races down the ice track during his first run of the
men's single Luge World Cup in the Bavarian resort of Schoenau am
Koenigssee, January 4, 2009. (REUTERS/Alexandra Beier) #

11

A
visitor takes a close look at a lit tree during the opening of the
Harbin Ice and Snow Festival held in Harbin, China on Monday, Jan. 5,
2009. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #

12

A
child pushes a sled over a frozen pond at the English Garden park in
Munich, southern Germany, on January 4, 2009. (OLIVER LANG/AFP/Getty
Images) #

13

Ice
Sculpture by Donald Chapelle titled "Mangrove", on the Boston Common
for First Night celebration on December 31st, 2008. (Boston Globe) #

14

A
chain link fence and the trees behind it are covered with a thick coat
of ice in the aftermath of an ice storm along a highway in Boylston,
Massachusetts, Friday morning, Dec. 12, 2008. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
#

15

A
visitor takes a picture as he walks through an illuminated "ice palace"
in Schwarzsee about 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of Bern, Switzerland
on January 3, 2009. (REUTERS/Pascal Lauener) #

16

The
Marken lighthouse in northern Holland is seen surrounded by ice sheets,
caused by the recent cold weather, on January 2, 2009. (OLAF
KRAAK/AFP/Getty Images) #

17

A man swims in a frozen swimming pool in Changzhi, Shanxi province, China on January 3, 2009. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

18

Visitors
slide on tracks at an ice sculpture during a preview for the upcoming
25th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival at a park in Harbin,
China on December 23, 2008. (REUTERS/Sheng Li) #

19

Avery
Thomas and Dave Dishneau work to secure straps from a crane hook to a
submerged utility truck Monday afternoon, Dec. 22, 2008, on the Chena
River in Fairbanks, Alaska. The vehicle's multiple occupants escaped
unharmed after breaking through thin ice near Pike's Landing the
previous night. (AP Photo/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Johnny Wagner) #

20

People
visit an ice sculpture for the upcoming 25th Harbin International Ice
and Snow Festival at a park in Harbin, China on December 23, 2008.
(REUTERS/Sheng Li) #

21

Trees
bent by the weight of ice from a winter storm line railroad tracks in
Hinsdale, Massachusetts, Friday, Dec. 12, 2008. (AP Photo/The Berkshire
Eagle, Ben Garver) #

22

People
visit a castle constructed of ice prior to the 25th Harbin
International Ice and Snow Festival at a park in Harbin, China on
December 23, 2008. (REUTERS/Sheng Li) #

23

A
member of the "Optimalist" heath club hacks a hole into the ice
covering a canal near the village of Viazynka, Belarus on December 28,
2008. The club promotes a healthy way of living, encouraging its
members to spend most of their free time in the countryside.
(REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko) #

24

A
giant Santa Claus ice sculpture, created for thefor the upcoming 25th
Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, China. Photo
taken on December 24, 2008. (REUTERS/Sheng Li) #

25

People visit ice sculptures for the upcoming 25th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, China on December 23, 2008. (REUTERS/Sheng Li) #

26

People
skate on frozen canal in the Kinderdijk's Mill Area, a UNESCO World
Heritage site, near Rotterdam, Netherlands, Saturday Jan. 3, 2009. (AP
Photo/Peter Dejong) #

27

Chinese
visitors get a preview of the 25th Harbin International Ice and Snow
Festival at a park in Harbin, northeast China on December 24, 2008.
(Stringer/AFP/Getty Images) #

28

Ice forms on a crabapple tree following an ice storm in Antrim, New Hampshire, Friday, Dec. 12, 2008.(AP Photo/Jim Cole) #

29

People
visit ice sculptures for the upcoming 25th Harbin International Ice and
Snow Festival at a park in Harbin, China on December 23, 2008.
(REUTERS/Sheng Li) #

30

A
Chinese couple enjoys time together as they ride on a specially made
ice-chair on a frozen lake in Beijing, China, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009.
(AP Photo/Andy Wong) #

31

A snow sculpture takes shape at the Snow Festival in Harbin, China, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #

32

Nam
Nguyen climbs an ice-encrusted ladder out of Lake Minnetonka during the
19th annual On it and In It Lake Minnetonka Ice Dive in Excelsior,
Minnesota, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009. With morning temperatures in the
teens, event organizers said more than 900 people plunged into the
31-degree waters to greet the new year. (AP Photo/St. Paul Pioneer
Press, Richard Marshall) #

33

nIce
sculptor Don Chapelle, of Brilliant Ice Sculpture, puts the finishing
touches on an ice sculpture called Pipeline, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008
at the Boston Common in Bosto, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole) #

34

Visitors
take souvenirs photos in front of an ice sculpture for the upcoming
25th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, Heilongjiang
Province December 23, 2008. (REUTERS/Sheng Li) #

"Romantic
Feelings," The world's Tallest Snow Sculpture. The 35-meter-tall and
162-meter-long snow sculpture has been placed at the expo's main square
known as the "Romantic and Marvelous Area.



    A tour bus passes a snow sculpture of former French leader Napoleon
A worker carves a giant snow sculpture during the 20th International Snow Sculpture Art Expo in Harbin







Snow sculpture of the "Thinker".
At night colored lights make the sculptures even more beautiful.

Ice sculpture of the Parthenon
Ice sculpture of the Tiananmen gate

Ice sculpture of a Catholic church







A
treat for Color Lovers, a true artistic achievement! These are some of
the images from 20th International Show Sculpture Art Expo in Harbin.