Excitement is building and preparations are gearing up for the 25th Harbin Ice and Snow World and the 36th China Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo.
 
They both serve as important elements of the annual China International Ice and Snow Festival – soon to be held in the city of Harbin, capital of China's northernmost Heilongjiang province.
 
As construction of the 25th Harbin Ice and Snow World proceeds at a steady pace, the snowmaking work has also been fully launched.
 
Snowmakers work in three shifts a day, with snowmaking machines operating around the clock and producing nearly 5,000 cubic meters of snow per day.
   
Covering a planned area of 810,000 square meters, the project will use 250,000 cub m of ice and snow to create a magical ice and snow world.
 
At 10 pm on Nov 23, the 36th Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo began making artificial snow, with 16 snow machines operating overnight.
 
The expo is designed to have an area of 1 million sq m and requires 150,000 cub m of snow.
 
As of Nov 26, the accumulated snowfall had reached 7,000 cub m. This year's snowmaking work started four days earlier than last year.