Entice-ing: Ice palaces create multicoloured skyline at chilly Chinese festival celebrating subzero temperatures

These frozen wonders are part of a display at the 29th annual Harbin International Ice and Snow festival held in Harbin, near the Russian border in northeast China.

The palaces and sculptures are made from hollow blocks of ice and lit up using LED lights creating a multicoloured glow-in-the-dark skyline on the shores of the nearby Songhua river.

The festival features work by some of the country's best ice sculptors and attracts thousands of visitors from around the world who marvel at the wonderous creations, enjoy the fireworks over the City of Ice or appeal to their inner child as they take a ride on the ice-slides.



Subzero ceremony: Spectators cheer as fireworks are set off to celebrate the opening of the 29th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival earlier today

Winter is coming: The three-month-long subzero festival is running for the 29th year having been restored in 1999 after a break throughout the cultural revolution

Cool tradition: The very first festival is thought to have been held in 1963 in Harbin celebrating the local tradition of turning ice into lanterns