Derivation of the Ice Lantern
The first Ice lantern were a winter-time tradition in northeast China. During the Qing Dynasty （1644 - 1911), the local peasants and fishermen often made and used ice lanterns as jack-lights during the winter months. At that time these were made simply by pouring water into a bucket that was then put out in the open to freeze. It was then gently warmed before the water froze completely so that bucket-shaped ice could be pulled out. A hole was chiseled in the top and water remaining inside poured out creating a hollow vessel. A candle was then placed inside resulting in a windproof lantern that gained great popularity in region around.

From then on, people made ice lanterns and put them outside their houses or gave them to children to play with during some of the traditional festivals. Thus the ice lantern began its long history of development. With novel changes and immense advancement in techniques, today we can marvel at the various delicate and artistic ice lanterns on display.

Nowadays, ice lantern in broad sense refers to a series of plastic arts using ice and snow as the raw material combining ice artworks with colored lights and splendid music. The specific patterns of ice lantern include ice and snow sculpture, ice flowers, ice architectures and so on. Harbin Ice Festival provides the travelers each year a whole new world of ice and snow. and the best collections of ice artworks are exhibited in three main place:the Sun Island Park, Harbin Ice and Snow World, and the Zhaolin Park.

Today, Harbin Ice Festival is not only an exposition of ice and snow art, but also an annual cultural event for international exchange. Every year, there are many ice sculpture experts, artists and fans from America, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Russia, China, etc. gathering in Harbin to participate ice sculpting competitions and to communicate with each other in the ice and snow world. Also, Harbin ice lanterns have been exhibited in most of China's main cities as well as in many countries in Asia, Europe, North America, Africa and Oceania. For more than 40 years, Harbin's natural resource of ice and snow has been fully explored to provide joy and fun for visitors to the city.