The banks of the Songhua River in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, were alive on Monday evening with the sound of fireworks and dazzling lights as the 42nd Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival kicked off.

The annual event, held at the Harbin Ice and Snow World, has grown exponentially since its humble beginnings as an ice lantern show in 1985. It has since become one of the world's four largest ice and snow festivals alongside Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada's Quebec Winter Carnival and Norway's Oslo Holmenkollen Ski Festival.

The festival, which attracts millions of tourists from around the world, continues through the end of February, overlapping with some of China's most important traditional holidays, such as Spring Festival and Lantern Festival.

It has become the calling card for the northern city and a major contributor to its booming winter tourism.

Ten top-quality ice and snow tourism routes have been launched during the festival and over 200 ice and snow-related cultural, sports and economic and trade activities will be held.

One of the most important parts of the festival is the Harbin Ice and Snow World, a 1.2-million-square-meter park, which has opened for the 27th consecutive year.

The park is 20 percent larger than the previous year, using more than 400,000 cubic meters of ice and snow.

When night falls, 3D mapping light shows and augmented reality interactive technology allow the crystal-clear buildings to change colors with the light and shadows, making the park resemble an ice crystal palace.

Tourists have access to winter fishing, cross-country skiing, snow soccer, and a 521-meter ice slide, the park's longest slide to date.

At the 38th Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo hosted at Sun Island Park, about 120,000 cu m of snow was used to carve more than 260 groups of snow sculptures, including the adorably clumsy 23.8-meter-tall "Mr Snowman", and delightful panda snow sculptures, showcasing the charm of snow art.

After attending the festival's opening ceremony, Albert Marcet, a sculptor from Spain, expressed a desire to achieve better results in the upcoming snow sculpture competition held during the expo.

Marcet, together with his two teammates, will create their snow sculpture at the 28th China Harbin International Snow Sculpture Competition to be held from Tuesday to Friday.

"This is my second time in Harbin," he said. "Last year, we got the special prize and we hope to get a better results this year." The special prize is a dedicated award that recognizes innovation, artistic expression, or technical breakthrough of the works created.

Marcet praised the city's spectacular event. "The ice and snow park left a strong impression on me."

The festival also features five "super ice and snow" core events, including the Asian speed skating super endurance race, which will bring together nearly 2,000 domestic and international athletes to compete, and the national public snow soccer challenge, showcasing a remarkable showdown between northern and southern teams.

Data from the local government shows that on the first day of the three-day New Year holiday, Harbin received a total of 1.4 million tourists, an increase of 11.4 percent compared to the previous year.

"I booked tickets of the popular tourist attractions and reserved hotels half a month in advance," said Ru Xiaoqi, a tourist from Nanjing, Jiangsu province. "I felt it was extremely worthwhile."

"The whole city is showing great care for its guests, making bilingual instructions and free hot water available. The details are all excellent and the experience far exceeds expectations," she said.

Contact the writers at zhouhuiying@chinadaily.com.cn