The 40th Harbin Ice and Snow Festival in China is attracting a record number of visitors over the New Year holiday, many of them drawn by the grand and intricate ice sculptures of its annual Ice and Snow Festival.

The towering ice structures, illuminated in a dazzling array of lights at night, are built from ice blocks harvested from the frozen Songhua River nearby.

This year"s festival helped draw 3.05 million visitors to Harbin during the three-day New Year holiday that ended on Monday, generating 5.91 billion yuan (USD 826 million) in tourism revenue. Those numbers exceeded the number of pre-COVID visits in 2019.

The Ice and Snow Festival park received 163,200 visitors over the New Year holidays, over 5 times more than a year ago, with almost 40% of those holiday makers visiting on New Yearэs Eve.