The 41st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival officially opened Sunday with a spectacular fireworks display and drone show in the northeastern Chinese city known as the "city of ice".
Coinciding with the upcoming 2025 Asian Winter Games, also known as the 9th Asian Winter Games, this year's festival shares the same theme as the sports event, "Shared Dreams of Ice and Snow, United Asia."
The opening ceremony centered around the 9th Asian Winter Games. The mascots of the Games, Siberian tigers "Binbin" and "Nini", along with figure skaters and ice acrobats, presented the six major events and 11 sub-events of the Asian Winter Games to the audience.
In addition, the theme song of the sports event, "Light Up Asia," was officially released at the opening ceremony. Aligning with the overarching theme of "Shared Dreams of Ice and Snow, United Asia," the song showcase the dynamic vitality of ice and snow sports while vividly depicting the vision of building an Asian Community with a Shared Future.
This year, the Harbin Ice-Snow World, where the festival is being held, has expanded to an astonishing scale of 1 million square meters, with approximately 300,000 cubic meters of ice and snow having been crafted into miniature versions of landmark buildings and sculptures.
The annual ice and snow festival, founded in 1985, has become a name card of Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province, and a major contributor to its booming winter tourism.
41st Harbin Int'l Ice and Snow Festival kicks off
A welcoming ceremony for two Chinese giant pandas was held on Wednesday at Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo, one of the world's oldest zoos, marking the official start of their decade-long stay in Austria for scientific research and as ambassadors of friendship.
The pandas, male He Feng and female Lan Yun, arrived in Austria on April 23.
Addressing the welcoming ceremony, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen highlighted that giant pandas are a symbol of the strong friendship between Austria and China.
"Cooperations like these create trust. They bring nations closer together. We shouldn't underestimate the impact of these seemingly small occasions, despite all the differences that may exist. And the giant pandas are a symbol of the Chinese-Austrian [partnership]," said the president.
Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, who led a delegation to Austria from Sunday to Wednesday, also attended the welcoming ceremony.
"Like ambassadors, they will become mascots of friendship between the two countries and their peoples. The giant panda is a national treasure of China, a jewel in the diversity of the earth's species and a precious treasure of ecological civilization," Li said.
As part of the ceremony, the Schoenbrunn Zoo staged a traditional Chinese lion dance performance to celebrate the pandas' arrival, to the cheers of visitors. Among the crowds were dozens of local school children holding signs reading "warmly welcome" to demonstrate their love for the Chinese giant panda.
"It's a very nice moment today to welcome the bears in Austria in Tiergarten Schoenbrunn," said Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker in an interview with the China Global Television Network.
The panda pair's arrival marks the latest 10-year round of the scientific collaboration between China and Austria on giant panda conservation, which started in 2003.
The past years of cooperation saw the birth of five panda cubs in Austria, a record for Europe on breeding, alongside achievements made in disease control, staff training and public education.
Panda pair debuts at Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo, receiving warm welcome
