The 13th Harbin Ice and Snow Festival opens in Harbin

The 13th Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, one of the world's four biggest ice and snow festivals, opens in Harbin, the capital of the China's northern Heilongjiang Province near Russia, February 23, 2012. As the festival grows in international attention and as China's economy grows, the size and amount of it's ice sculptures increase each year. UPI/Stephen Shaver