The 1999 China Xinjiang Altay International Ice and Snow Tourist Festival opened recently in Altay in northern parts of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Jointly sponsored by the Altay municipal government and the Chinese Society of Arts and Crafts, the festival will last for 66 days and feature 1,100 ice sculptures and 900 snow sculptures covering an area of 55,000 square meters.

Altay borders Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan and is known as " The Switzerland of the East" by Chinese and foreign tourists.