Travel in China
The planet's largest ice festival - glowing castles from Songhua River ice.
Harbin Ice and Snow World is the largest ice-and-snow theme park on the planet - a seasonal city of castles, towers and slides built each winter from vast blocks of ice cut out of the Songhua River. By day it is an astonishing construction site turned playground; by night it glows.
The illumination is the whole point: from dusk, lights embedded in the ice turn the architecture into a translucent, colour-shifting skyline. The park typically operates 11:00-22:00, and the smart plan is to enter in the afternoon, tour in daylight and stay for the lights.
The 28th edition (2026-27 snow season) is expected to open in late December, expanded to 1.25 million square metres and featuring a Disney-collaboration Frozen-themed zone. Metro Line 2 stops right at the gate, and a four-season indoor ice hall (10:00-20:00) covers visitors outside the snow season.
Highlights
Frozen-Themed Zone
The 28th edition's headline collaboration with Disney, building the world of Frozen in river ice.
Ice Architecture at Scale
Full-size castles and towers stacked from Songhua River ice blocks, some of them several storeys high.
Night Illumination
The signature hour, when the whole park glows from within against the black winter sky.
The Great Ice Slides
Long chutes carved from ice and packed snow - the park's most gleeful rides.
Metro to the Gate
Line 2's Ice and Snow World station drops you at the entrance - a rare luxury in -20°C weather.
Four-Season Indoor Hall
An indoor ice venue open 10:00-20:00 for a taste of the experience outside the snow season.
Photo Gallery
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