If you live in northeastern China, you expect long, cold winters. People     1    (live) in Harbin don’t just stand the cold, however, they welcome it. The city is home to the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival,    2    is considered to be the largest ice festival in the world. Even with temperatures usually close to zero, thousands of people head to city parks     3    (see) great ice sculptures, many bathed in colored lights.

The festival includes several thousand ice sculptures. Some of these works are the recreations of castles, historic landmarks and famous people, lit up at night in bright colors. There     4    (visitor) can climb ice stairways and go down ice slides (滑坡). They can also take part    5    sporting events, including skating, ice football     6    well as ice swimming.

The city started     7    (it) icy event in 1963 with the Ice Lantern Garden Party, a     8    (celebrate) of the tradition of creating lanterns out of blocks of ice. The larger festival     9    (begin) in 1985 and added sculptures, which have grown in number and size over the years. As it has gotten bigger, the festival has become popular outside the city.    10    (official), the festival starts on January 5th and lasts over one month.

3 . Famous Modern Chinese Buildings

Beijing International Airport

The first place most visitors see when they arrive in China is Beijing International Airport. The airport was constructed in the 1950s. It has an indoor garden, a children’s playground, and over 70 food businesses in Terminal 3 alone.

Shanghai World Financial Center

Completed in 2008, SWFC took over 10 years to complete due to financial shortages and construction delays. Since its completion, it has won countless architectural awards.

Tourists are welcome at SWFC's viewing platform, which at 474 meters above ground is the worlds highest closed viewing platform.

The Water Cube

It was constructed for use during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. Now visitors can express surprise at the architecture of the building. They can enjoy the indoor atmosphere as well.

Among the offerings of the Water Cube are a restaurant and bar, a shopping area, and Water World, a family water park

The Bird's Nest, Beijing

It was designed mainly for the 2008 Summer Olympics. It can hold up to 80,000 people and has been used for a winter theme park. Nowadays, its main income is as a tourist attraction. It draws more than 20,000 tourists every day.

National Center for the Performing Arts

It was completed in 2007. The building is surrounded by a man-made lake, requiring guests to enter via an underground hallway. It is home to an Opera Hall, Music Hall, and Theater.