The ice collection from the Songhua River for the 15th Harbin Ice and Snow World began on Dec. 15 and construction commenced on the ice and snow landscape. The 15th Harbin Ice and Snow World will cover an area of 750,000 square meters, with 180,000 cubic meters of ice and 150,000 cubic meters of snow to be consumed. A trial run is expected to start on Dec. 30th.

At 4 pm Dec. 15, ice collection for the Ice and Snow World formally began on the river to the east of Sifangtai Bridge. Wang Shuchen, person in overall charge of ice collection, told the reporter that due to the relatively high average temperature this December, ice collection work was postponed for a week, thereby affecting the time for the trial run. It is expected that this year’s Ice and Snow World will not start trial runs until Dec. 30th, but it will still officially open to the public on Jan. 5th next year, when the opening ceremony of the Ice and Snow Festival will be held.