The annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival originated in 1985. It is known, together with Sapporo Snow Festival of Japan, Québec Winter Carnival of Canada, and Oslo Snow Festival of Norway, as the four major global ice and snow festivals. It has been successfully held for 21 times. The Festival 2006 already opened on January 5 2006. In light of the fact that China and Russia will hold the Year of Russia in China and the Year of China in Russia and 2006 is the Year of Russia in China, the organizer included plenty of Russian elements into the festival whether in landscape design or in artistic performances, whether in sports events or in trade exchanges, creating an exotic atmosphere to the festival.

From January 4 to 7, 37 journalists from 25 news agencies in 17 countries, including the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France Presse, Kyodo News, and Interfax Russia, attended the reporting trip jointly organized by the International Press Center (IPC) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Affairs Office of Harbin Municipal Government.

I. A "Cold yet Warm" Festival and A Grand Celebration of Friendship and Peace

The local temperature was 27 degrees below zero centigrade. The water would freeze as soon as it was poured out. However walking on the street in Harbin, you would feel a stream of warmth. The people were happy to talk of the chilliness. The most frequently heard comment was, "the colder it gets, the happier we are."

At the opening ceremony of the Ice and Snow Festival, the actors of the National Model Song and Dance Troupe of Russia incisively and vividly interpreted the style of Russian dance with their superb skills, charming performance and fervent warmth, creating a special view to the festival. The audience followed the plot of the dance, feeling like staying in the palace, strolling in the open country, overlooking the mountains or being immersed in vast imagination and enjoying the happiness brought by the actors. One journalist commented, "the costumes and actors are charming. The jump, turn and other skills made their dance more brilliant. How interesting it is to have a feel of Russian style in China!"

In addition to the festival itself, the journalists were also concerned of whether the water pollution incidents that took place in Songhua River not long ago would affect the festival. Du Yuxin, Secretary of Harbin Municipal Party Committee, pointed out at the press conference that the ice of the festival was taken from the branch of Songhua River. No pollutants were discovered in the thorough testing conducted by the experts. He added,"the ice and snow in Harbin have no problem. It is completely unnecessary for domestic and foreign tourists to change their travel plans to Harbin." A reporter stated that he never imagined that Harbin could overcome the difficulties in such a short period of time and open the ice and snow festival as scheduled without being affected by the water pollution incident. The safety of Chinese and foreign tourists were guaranteed. He believed that China and Russia could properly settle the water pollution incident and the Year of Russia events would further promote the growth of bilateral relations including cultural communication and exchange between China and Russia.

II. A Natural "Ice and Snow World" Decorated with Exquisitely Carved Sculptures

On the evening of the festival, the chilliness could not quench the warmth of journalists. The fascinating "Ice and Snow World" is a huge project of ice sculptures. It is located at the southern bank of Songhua River, overlooking the northern bank. It is like a beautiful painting. When you set your foot into the world, it is like walking into a wonderland decorated with exquisitely and heavenly decorated ice sculptures. The wonderful ice and snow sculptures are changing with the colorful beams, showing extravagant splendor and vividness. The sculptures are also changing if you appreciate them from different angles, which will surely ignite our inspirations and imaginations. This is the Winter Palace. That is the Red Square. There are also exotic towns, October Square, and Lenin Square. All the scenic spots are well linked to vividly exhibit the style of Russia architecture, folk customs and traditions, famous historical figures and cultural heritage. A trip to the Ice and Snow World is a romantic sightseeing to Russia as well as a cultural tour to Russia.

While being intoxicated with the beautiful scenery, the journalists also had a chance to get to know how the beautiful scenery was created. In the winter, the thousand-mile-long river was covered by ice. The hardworking Harbin people used saws to cut the ice into small chunks and then got them out of the water. The ice and snow works had to go through a series of procedures before they became what they were, such as digging holes, installing wires and lamps, pouring water, carving and sculpturing. The Harbin people added new life to these ice and snow works. The warm-hearted people told journalists, "appreciating the ice sculpture works is an art the same as appreciating tea and wine. In terms of size, you should judge the works by its grandness. In terms of sculpt, you can learn to admire its originality. In terms of carving, you may appreciate the skills. In terms of lighting, you could feel its inspirations." Then, the journalists were not only enjoying the jollification, but also were learning to find knacks. They were immersed in the ice and snow art and amazed by its charms and the craftsmanship and creativity of the people in Harbin. They cast the chilliness behind their back. A journalist signed with emotion, "when spring comes, these sculptures will melt down, like a flash in the pan. There will be no trace. Is it more worthy to appreciate them?"

III. Ice Sculpture, Winter Swimming and Challenging the Extreme

Harbin International Ice Sculpture Competition aroused great interests of journalists. Over 100 ice sculptors from 42 teams in 19 countries and regions gathered together in Zhaolin Park in the downtown area of Harbin. Some held their saws high, some raised ice shovels, and some carried ice scrapers. They were working in full swing. Russian journalists were proud that every year Russian sculptors won the most awards. A Singaporean journalist put up his camcorder to cover the Singaporean artists. Norwegian journalists were excited when they found the artists from Finland. The Pakistani journalists itched to test the power of the saw. The planned one-hour trip was prolonged once and again due to the rising interests of journalists.

In the trip, the most exciting event for journalists was the winter swimming matches, from which they could find some stories. The swimming pool was actually a small water surface opened in Songhua River. The spray from the pool turned into ice immediately after it fell down on the brink of the pool. The working staff had to clean the floating ice in the pool every 3 hours. You can imagine what it would be like to swim in the main river route of Songhua River at 20 degrees below zero centigrade. Journalists would tremble with fear to think about that even through they were tightly dressed. However, under such cruel conditions that the exhaled air would turn into mist and the water would turn into ice once it was poured out, over 10 winter swimming enthusiasts jumped into the open-air pool and the cold water seemed warm to them. Half of them are middle aged or the elder, with the average age reaching 50 to 60 years. The journalists got so excited and rigorous just like the audience. They successively interviewed the warriors in the icy water, took pictures of them, and videotaped them. An elder who just came out of the pool slapped his chilly red breast and pleasantly told journalists, "I have been participating in the winter swimming activities for 7 years. It is good to my health. I'll keep on doing it." Journalists responded that they saw from the winter swimmers the spirit of the Chinese people, particularly the people in the northeast, to face difficulties courageously and do their best to overcome them.

IV. Farewell to Harbin, An Open, Friendly and Charming Ice City

Besides the Ice and Snow Festival, the journalists also visited Heilongjiang Biological Products Factory, Harbin Sanchine Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., and Harbin Brewery Group to get to know the restructuring and reorganization of large-scale state owned enterprises (SOEs) in Harbin and the status of the rejuvenation of the old industrial base in the northeast. The visits to these companies made the reporting trip more colorful for they are typical enterprises representing the rejuvenation of the old industrial base in the northeast,

The reporting trip is coming to an end in a twinkle of the eye. The journalists are still recalling the activities in the past three days. They said that it is really worthy of being able to visit Harbin in its most charming moment, cover the ice and snow festival, enjoy the enchanting scenery of the north, increase the understanding of Harbin and the northeastern region of China and consolidate the friendship with the Chinese people. Through what they saw and heard, they learned that Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival is the first regional festival focusing upon the ice and snow in the Chinese history and how the wise, diligent, and brave people in Harbin turned the chilliness into art and added new life to the ice and snow and how they turned the icy and snowy winter of the northeastern region into a comprehensive international ice and snow celebration combining culture, sports, tourism, economy, trade, science and technology. They expressed their wishes to visit Harbin next year to have a date with the ice and snow again.