Palaces of ice
Glowing sculptures stand out against the night sky during the 30th Ice and Snow Festival in the northern Chinese city of Harbin.
Almost 10,000 workers were employed to build the glittering structures, according to organisers. The mammoth task required some 180,000 square meters of ice and almost as much snow.
Workers hack at the frozen Songhua River with iron pikes as they extract ice to make sculptures for the Ice and Snow Festival.
Workers pull a giant ice cube, weighing about 250 kilograms (551 lb), from the river.
A worker polishes a sculpture ahead of the festival.
A woman rides an ice slide from one of the huge towers.
A woman takes a picture with her phone.
Visitors walk past a giant snow sculpture ahead of the festival.
A girl rides in a festively decorated, dog-drawn sleigh on the opening day of the event.
A vendor sells steamed corn next to a snow sculpture of a forest.
A worker breaks ice on a pool carved into the thickly frozen Songhua River as he prepares it for the Harbin Ice Swimming Competition.
An official from the organising committee instructs swimmers before he guides them to the pool in the ice.
A participant in the competition stands on a platform by the pool.
A man swims across the pool.
A swimmer smiles after climbing out of the water.
A waitress poses during a photo opportunity at the Ice Palace in Harbin’s Shangri-La Hotel. The hotel is open annually from December to February and temperatures inside the building are maintained at around minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit).
The hotel is built from bricks of ice and contains a bar and hot pot restaurant.
A woman stands in front of an illuminated sculpture at the Ice and Snow Festival.
Ice sculptures glow during a light-up rehearsal ahead of the event.
