ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP Clients Only
Harbin, China – 5 January 2020
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Wide aerial of fireworks at Harbin Ice and Snow Park ++MUTE++
2. Tilt down from fireworks to ice sculptures
3. Wide of fireworks in sky above crowds and ice sculptures
4. Aerial tilt from ice sculptures to fireworks ++MUTE++
5. Fireworks erupting in night sky
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP Clients Only
Harbin, China – 4 January 2020
++NIGHT SHOTS++
6. Pan of tour bus to ice sculptures
7. Wide of ice sculpture of train
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP Clients Only
Harbin, China – 5 January 2020
++NIGHT SHOTS++
8. Mid of crowds milling around train-like transport vehicle
9. Wide of crowds and ice sculpture
10. Mid of people walking up ice stairs onto sculpture
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP Clients Only
Harbin, China – 4 January 2020
++DAY SHOTS++
11. Wide of tourists taking photos in front of snow sculpture of Year of Rats,"2020 Spring"
12. Mid of snow sculptures of rats
13. Mid of snow sculpture of rat giving thumbs up
14. Wide of snow sculpture of thermometer
15. Close of thermometer showing temperature as -15 degrees Celsius (5 Fahrenheit)
16. Various of workers sculpting and carving snow
17. Pull focus from snow sculpture of woman's face to red lanterns and snow sculpture of phoenix
18. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Chen Chen, Tourist from Shanghai:
"(At first) I thought it was boring to see the sculptures. (But) once I am here and become part of the environment, I feel different. The frigid weather and the snow only enhance the beauty of each one at this moment."
19. Various of couple taking selfies with snowman
20. Various of snowman and snow sculpture of phoenix
21. Various of tourists taking photos in front of snow sculptures along Harbin Central Avenue
22. Close of snow sculpture
23. Wide of tourists walking past ice sculpture on street
24. Various of ice sculpture of swan
25. Various of ice sculpture of train
26. Wide of main ice sculpture in Harbin Ice and Snow Park
27. Mid of main ice sculpture with snow sculpture of bodhisattva in background
28. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Wang Xiaoyu, Harbin Ice and Snow Park Designer:
"One of our design ideas this year is "traditional inheritance". You can see the elements of Western classical architectures were blended into our design. In the meantime, we have ice and snow entertainment facilities in the ice castles like slides, mazes (and) bikes."
29. Wide of slides behind ice wall, sign and flags
30. Tracking shot of man sliding
31. Wide of slides
32. Mid of tourists passing through ice archway
33. Mid of woman posing for photo in ice sculpture
34. Wide of tourists ringing giant bell on ice platform
35. Wide of ice castle against backdrop of sunset
36. Various of tourists riding bikes on ice and snow track
++NIGHT SHOTS++
37. Wide of illuminated ice sculptures and moon
38. Wide of tour bus and tourists on foot passing ice blocks and ice sculptures
39. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Wang Xiaoyu, Harbin Ice and Snow Park Designer:
"Since 2015, we have started using LED strip lights. The advantage of strip lights is the light is softer and not very dazzling. And it makes the whole piece of ice block bloom. This is an effect that traditional light bulbs cannot make."
40. Wide of ice palace
41. Wide of people milling around in front of ice castle lit in yellow and blue
42. Wide of tourists riding bikes on ice and passing ice castle
43. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Wang Xiaoyu, Harbin Ice and Snow Park Designer: ++DAY SHOT++
"The lights in each ice sculpture change together with tourists' interactions. For example, it changes with the rhythm of a bell ringing, and with music. Also, the ice sculptures in one area echo with each other to create a general effect."
++NIGHT SHOTS++
44. Various of changing lights inside ice blocks
45. Tracking shot of tourist walking through ice sculpture
46. Wide of ice park
47. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Chen Bailing, Tourist from Hebei Province:
"Here is a very famous tourist site in winter. I came with my parents. My father has never seen the ice lights, but he knows the ice lights are magnificent, so I want to show my parents what it looks like. After I came, I realized the lights are very beautiful indeed. We don't even want to leave. Although it is cold, we enjoy ourselves so much."
48. Pan left from tour bus to ice sculpture of train
49. Various of ice sculpture of train
ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP Clients Only
Harbin, China – 5 January 2020
50. Various aerials of Harbin Ice and Snow sculptures ++MUTE++
LEADIN:
In China's northernmost province, a glittering winter wonderland built of ice and snow and sprawling across four enormous sites has been unveiled to thousands of delighted visitors and locals.
Each year, millions flock to Harbin to take in the annual spectacle, and the city's Ice and Snow Festival is now in its 36th year.
In the dark depths of winter in the northernmost province of China, a riot of fireworks and twinkling lights sparkle in the night sky.
Here, thousands are braving some of the coldest temperatures in China to experience an annual display that glitters and shimmers.
And it's all the more awesome when you learn how it's made: this extraordinary spectacle is built entirely of snow and ice.
The 2020 Harbin Snow and Ice Festival officially opened this weekend.
The event - in its 36th year - attracts millions of visitors from all over the world.
The festival sprawls across four sites, with the largest two the Sun Island Snow Park, and the Harbin Ice and Snow Park, both near the banks of north-eastern China's mighty Songhua River.
This year, the Sun Island Snow Park covers an area of 600,000 square metres.
110,000 cubic meters of snow has been used to build and hand-carve these structures.
In the main, the artists work outside, in temperatures that rarely rise above -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit).
Here in the Snow Park, the sculptures - made from packed snow - tell a uniquely Chinese story.
There are rats - some giving the thumbs up sign - to mark the start of the Year of the Rat on the Chinese Zodiac calendar.
There's also a phoenix, carved from the snow: in Chinese culture, the phoenix symbolises femininity and grace.
It's displays like these that are winning over even the most cynical of visitors, like Chen Chen, who has travelled here from the much milder climes of Shanghai.
"(At first) I thought it was boring to see the sculptures. (But) once I am here and become part of the environment, I feel different. The frigid weather and the snow only enhances the beauty of each one at this moment," he says.
With its famously long, cold winters and its short cool summers, Harbin is known throughout China for its ice and snow.
Here on the city's Central Avenue, a shopping area famous for its Russian-style architecture, locals and tourists can admire ice and snow sculptures every few metres.
And it doesn't all come together overnight.
At the beginning of every December, local workers start the painstaking work of preparing the Harbin Ice and Snow Park.
They cut into the frozen Songhua River, and drag and haul large chunks of ice which are then shaped into all manner of structures, from castles to slides.
Wang Xiaoyu has worked for five years as a landscape designer at the Park.
This year, executing her vision took 360 hours, with 10,000 workers required for the job.
"One of our design ideas this year is "traditional inheritance"," she explains.
"You can see the elements of Western classical architectures were blended into our design. In the meantime, we have ice and snow entertainment facilities in the ice castles like slides, mazes (and) bikes."
Many of the attractions this year provide fun for visitors of all ages and interests.
Across the festival's locations, there are more than 20 games and activities on offer.
Adults and children are loving the ice slides.
There are also bikes of different sizes, that can be safely ridden on the packed snow and ice.
A key part of the spectacle as the daylight dims is the light display: for the past five years, Wang and her team have been using LED strip lights, which Wang says makes things softer.
"It makes the whole piece of ice block bloom. This is an effect that traditional light bulbs cannot make," she says.
And as the tourists cycle and walk their way around the park, their interactions with the displays have an effect too, Wang explains.
"The lights in each ice sculpture change together with tourists' interactions. For example, it changes with the rhythm of a bell ringing, and with music. Also, the ice sculptures in one area echo with each other to create a general effect," she says.
The glittering, icy spectacle is known throughout China, with families, couples, groups of friends and singles travelling here from far and wide.
Chen Bailing is here with her parents from Hebei province, in central China.
"My father has never seen the ice lights, but he knows the ice lights are magnificent, so I want to show my parents how it looks like. After I came, I realized the lights are very beautiful indeed. We don't even want to leave. Although it is cold, we enjoy ourselves so much," she says.
The ice festival was first held here in 1985.
This year, the event also includes competitions like ice swimming, skiing, and even a triathlon.
But for most visitors, it's vistas like this one that keep them returning.
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