Photo of the day – Harbin Ice And Snow Festival, China

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from Harbin, China‘s annual Ice And Snow Sculpture Festival. The festival starts in January and lasts about a month, or as long as the temperatures stay low enough not to melt the huge sculptures and buildings. Flickr user Bernard-SD took the shot on a -28C night. Sculptures are made with hi-tech methods like lasers, as well as lo-tech methods like lanterns (think sandcastles, water is poured into a lantern and frozen, and the resulting shapes are moulded into sculptures). Last year, Gadling’s Leigh Caldwell checked out Gaylord Hotels’ ICE! festival in the United States with many of Harbin’s master carvers.

Have you captured any fun festivals on your travels? Add them to the Gadling group on Flickr and we might just pick one of yours as a future Photo of the Day.