哈尔滨英文导游词：哈尔滨冰雪文化

(冰雪文化概说)

On the map of the People's Republic of China, Heilongjiang Province looks like a flying swan with spread wings while Harbin resembles a dazzling pearl under the neck of the swan.

Harbin is famous for its bitterly cold winters. With 190-day freezing season, the northeastern city of Harbin is known as a City of Ice. But the bitter cold never cools the local peoples enthusiasm for enjoying the winter scenery and all kinds of winter activities. Harbin is best known for its appealing winter landscape, stimulating winter sports and various dazzling ice and snow art works, such as ice lanterns, snow sculptures and ice carvings.

Harbin is the cradle of the ice-and-snow culture in the world, gradually become China's ice and snow tourism center. Having ice and snow everywhere for one third of the year, the locals really know how to make the best use of their wintry treasures: all is white, but their lives are as colorful as ever. Harbin is using its rich winter resources of ice and snow to attract more tourists and sports fans. They have developed their chilly city into the countrys major winter sports base and the home of unique ice and snow art.

(冰灯史话)

Local Harbiners have developed a long tradition of making ice lanterns. In the old days, farmers and fishermen used to partially freeze a block of water, dig a hole on top of the ice block, tip out the unfrozen water at the centre and then put the lamp inside to keep it from the wind. These were the earliest ice lanterns.

No longer pure lighting tools for daily use, ice lanterns have developed into a form of art that combines traditional craftsmanship with modern technology, mirroring people's aesthetic value and reflecting the spirit of the era.

(现代冰灯)

Ice lanterns are not necessarily lantern-like. In a broad sense, they refer to any work of art made of ice and light, including buildings, carvings, slides, waterfalls, calligraphy and advertisements. These ice and snow art works come in all shapes and sizes. They can be as small as a mouse or as big as a bus. The designs range from life-size human figures, animals and flowers to towering castles, delicate pagodas and many other ingenious creations.

The ice lanterns and sculptures are illuminated inside with colored lights and lamps. By day, they sparkle like crystal in the winter sunshine. When the night curtain falls, they gently glow, a spectrum of gorgeous colors glistening against the dark sky.

(哈尔滨冰雪节)

To enhance the citys image and boost its tourism industry, since 1985 the city has hosted the grand Harbin Ice and Snow Festival. On January 5, 1985, the first Harbin Ice and Snow Festival was unveiled. Since then it has become an annual event, which is highly acclaimed around the world. The festival is now one of the most popular local festivals in China, as well as one of the largest ice and snow spectaculars in the world, making Harbin a favorite destination for numerous tourists from home and abroad to spend their winter holidays.

The highlight of the festival is the ice lantern and sculpture exhibitions, which provide visitors a good opportunity to appreciate a galaxy of unique ice and snow art. Thousands of exquisitely-made ice lanterns, ice carvings and snow sculptures grace the snow-covered parks, public squares and major streets, turning the city into a dreamlike world of pure whiteness and gleaming crystal.

(冰雪运动)

Vast land of ice and snow builds Harbin people a mountain-like physique. Therefore, Harbin is reputed as The Capital of Ice and Snow Sports. As the capital of ice and snow sports, exceptional advantages of Ice and Snow shapes Harbin into a national base for ice and snow sports.

Harbin was the venue of the Third Asian Winter Sports Tournament-the largest intercontinental Games，that bring Harbin people more pride.

And there is plenty of fun activities for the more energetic. At 20 or 30 degrees below zero, even fur lined boots, long johns and thick down jackets might not suffice to keep you warm. No problem. Warm up with a brisk walk to the Songhua River, which winds through the northern part of the city.