Ice Harvesters Worry for the Future of Harbin Festival With Rising Temperatures

TaiwanPlus News

The annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival attracts millions of visitors every year. But with warming temperatures, workers worry for the future of the festival and their livelihoods.

Transcript

00:00A winter wonderland that draws millions of visitors to northeast China every year.

00:05The Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival features huge structures

00:09made entirely of snow and blocks of ice, standing unmelted for up to two months.

00:15Preparing for the festival begins weeks before. On the frozen surface of the Songhua River,

00:21ice harvesters gather, braving sub-zero temperatures to carefully cut the thick

00:27blocks that will form the structures at the festival. But this year was unseasonably warm,

00:33and the harvesters noticed a difference.

00:36This year's ice is different from last year's. This year, the temperature is higher,

00:42the ice is thinner, and the ice is thicker every year. This year's ice is 15-16 cm thicker than last year.

00:53During a 16-hour shift, harvesters can cut up to 2,700 ice bricks, earning up to 27 cents per brick.

01:02But with 2024 as the hottest year on record, and the ice thickness changing,

01:08so have their paychecks, a worrying trend for the seasonal workers.

01:19With the opening of the festival, artists have now transformed the harvested ice blocks

01:24into this winter wonderland. But as climate change accelerates and winters get warmer,

01:30the future of this festival may be on thin ice.

01:34Chris Monherel-Hughes for Taiwan Plus.

Category

Transcript

Recommended