The 40th Harbin Ice Lantern Garden Party held its opening ceremony at Zhaolin Park on Dec 30, 2013, according to China News.

Ten traditional viewing areas were open at the party, including thousands of ice lanterns and the “great wall slide,” which is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Zhaolin Park in Harbin city is the birthplace of Chinese lanterns. It is home to the oldest and largest open-air artistic exhibition of ice lanterns in the world, covering an area of 6.5 hectares (about 16 acres). With the theme “Ice Lanterns of 50 Years, Presents for the World,” the party contains several viewing areas, such as the ice amusement world, European flavor area, interesting games on the northland, the origin of ice lanterns, the light of heyday and glorious China.

With its delicate and colorful appearance, the ice version of the Church of St Nicholas was the most popular attraction. Spanning 36 meters, the “great wall slide” listed in the Guinness Book of World Records 13 years ago, made an appearance at the party. In addition, the first ice rubber duck in China was especially popular among female visitors.

The 28th International Ice Sculpture Competition will begin Jan 6. Hundreds of ice sculpture artists will take part in the competition.

Ice lanterns are a folk art from North China. With a long history, ice lanterns were closely related to daily life. The party was initiated in 1963 and since then has become the biggest outdoor ice lantern exhibition in the world.