The 26th Harbin Ice Lantern Festival opened on December 25 in the capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The festival displays more than 2,000 ice lanterns with a total of ice volume of 26,000 cubic meters, said a local official at the official opening of the annual gala in Zhaolin Park.

"Themed with Romance of Ice and Snow Tourism in the New Century, a large number of ice lantern designers, lighting engineers, and sculptors worldwide attended the exhibition," according to the official.

The ice festival will feature a cultural sites, recreational programs, traditional stories and international tourism which are expected to attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from both at home and abroad.

The most significant ice work for the festival is the 418 meters long ice slide running zigzag across the park.