The first Harbin Ice Collecting Festival took place on the frozen Harbin section of the Songhua River in Harbin, capital city of China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province on Dec 7, according to the organizers.

A folk ceremony marking the beginning of ice-collecting was held, involving activities such as hanging flags, playing drums and collecting the first ice cubic from the frozen river.

Organizers said that as the largest ceremony of its kind in China, it reflects a century-old ice-collecting folk custom in the northeastern China region.

Harbin, located in a cold area at high latitudes, has the nickname the “Ice City”. According to custom, in the extreme cold Harbin residents collect ice from the frozen river to make ice sculptures.

The blocks of ice that are carved measure 1.6 meters by 0.8 m, each weighing over 500 kilograms.

"Ice collecting usually lasts for more than half a month,” said Qu Fengbin, who has been engaged in ice harvesting for more than 20 years.

“The workers start cutting the ice at 4 am at the earliest and returns home at 9 pm at the latest.”

This year, around 120,000 cubic meters of ice will be cut and delivered to Harbin Ice and Snow World, where they will eventually be made into ice sculptures to entertain tourists during the annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival.

In addition, other activities during the festival include watching boiling water instantly turn into ice mist by tossing it into the air, tasting traditional Northeast Chinese snacks such as dumplings, frozen pears and persimmon and sugar-coated haws -- which are hawthorn berries.

The festival was scheduled to be held on Dec 7, as the day marked the starting day of the Major Snow (Chinese: 大雪) according to China’s traditional 24 solar terms.

During Major Snow, the snow becomes heavy and begins to accumulate on the ground. The temperature drops significantly.
  A toasting celebration to mark the first Harbin Ice Collecting Festival is held on the frozen Songhua River on Dec 7. [Photo/chinanews.com]