The Temporary Ruins of Harbin’s Melting Ice Sculptures

Alan Taylor
March 27, 2019
12 Photos
In Focus

Remember seeing photos of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in January—those huge ice sculptures set up in a park, part of an annual festival held in Harbin, northeastern China? Well, when the festival is over and springtime rolls around, those giant ice castles are left to melt and crumble in place, eventually becoming slushy piles cluttered with steel support rods, cables, and electrical wires that once powered colorful night lighting. Earlier this month, the photographer Wang Zhaobo visited Harbin to gather some fascinating aerial images of this ephemeral architecture returning to its liquid state.

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An aerial view of partly melted ice sculptures at Harbin Ice and Snow World in Heilongjiang province, China, on March 15, 2019 #

Wang Zhaobo / VCG via Getty

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A photo of the ice sculptures during the festival in Harbin on January 7, 2019 #

Tyrone Siu / Reuters

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The crisp facade of ice has melted and crumbled away from this sculpture in Harbin, photographed from above on March 15, 2019. #

Wang Zhaobo / VCG via Getty

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As the ice blocks melt and fall away, underlying support structures, cables, and wiring emerge. #

Wang Zhaobo / VCG via Getty

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Multiple ice structures in varying degrees of decay, photographed on March 15, 2019 #

Wang Zhaobo / VCG via Getty

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Mock stained-glass windows have fallen away from a collapsing church sculpture. #

Wang Zhaobo / VCG via Getty

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A frozen replica of the Colosseum falls to pieces. #

Wang Zhaobo / VCG via Getty

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A leaning tower bends earthward amid other melting ice structures in Harbin, China. #

HelloRF Zcool / Shutterstock

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An aerial view of partly melted ice sculptures, taken on March 15, 2019 #

Wang Zhaobo / VCG via Getty

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A crumbling replica of the Burj Khalifa still stands among melting piles of ice and snow. #

Wang Zhaobo / VCG via Getty

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A top-down view of an ice structure with collapsing walls #

HelloRF Zcool / Shutterstock

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Pigeons fly above melting ice sculptures at Harbin Ice and Snow World in Heilongjiang province, China, on March 15, 2019. #

Wang Zhaobo / VCG via Getty

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