Harbin Snow & Ice Festival 2012

Briefly disrupted by the Chinese Cultural Revolution after its first event held in 1963, the annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival has placed Harbin, a Northeast China city of six million residences, on the tourism map as a wonderland for gigantic sculptures. With a climate that can drop below −40 °F, Harbin comfortably hosts frozen constructions made by lasers, saws, and chisels.

(via Flickr)