The northern Chinese city of Harbin is one of the roughest places to spend winter. The average temperature in January is –2°F (–19°C), and nose-hair-freezing gales blow in regularly from Siberia. But the locals are a tough sort, and they make the most of the conditions. For several weeks each winter, the city hosts the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. Artists and engineers build massive ice structures filled with multicolored lights and amenities like escalators and elevators. The ice buildings comprise a small town and often include replicas of churches, pagodas, pyramids and palaces. Snow sculptures of everything from Buddhas to Disney characters line the site. Because of the incredible lights, the best time to go is after sunset — when, of course, temperatures turn for the colder.
— By Austin Ramzy