Let’s go! Go to the Ice and Snow Kingdom to experience the “hard work” of technology

Zheng Yingzhuo, Science Times reporter Li Liyun, intern reporter Zhu Hong

On January 5, the 40th China Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival opened. As an important part of the Ice and Snow Festival, Harbin Ice and Snow World has opened in advance, welcoming waves of southern tourists. According to a report by Tongcheng Travel, during the New Year's Day holiday, Harbin's tourism popularity increased by 240% month-on-month. In order to bring tourists a different experience, the Ice and Snow Kingdom has made full use of technology.

"Ice Lanterns" shine on 60 years of ice and snow

The 810,000-square-meter Harbin Ice and Snow World, centered around the theme of "Capital of Ice and Snow Culture", has created thousands of ice and snow landscapes, forming a "Ice and Snow Journey" landscape group. With ice lantern technology innovation as the main line, it showcases Harbin's 60 years of ice and snow culture and artistic charm.

Ice is the form, and the light is the soul. A bucket-shaped ice lantern tells the history of the development of ice lanterns. In the past, fishermen in the Songhua River filled buckets with water and placed them outdoors. When the water was not frozen, they poured out the ice shells and put in a lit candle. Thus, the "ice lantern" was born. An icicle light tube symbolizes the first innovation of ice lantern technology. After 1980, people wrapped lights with colored plastic paper to achieve a colorful effect. Look at the light tubes and LED light strips placed in the landscape arch, which symbolize the second innovation of ice lantern technology.

LED light strips are soft, adaptable, stable, and colorful. With the self-developed intelligent lighting control system, it can realize a powerful combination of countless colored lights, allowing the colorful lights to move with the rhythm of music. Through computer program control, it can realize the overall light show of multiple independent landscape performances, making the lighting interpretation effect reach the extreme.

This year, the ice and snow landscape lighting linkage effect of Harbin Ice and Snow World is leading the world in scale and volume.

Bright light source "baks" the ice sculptures without melting them

Under the cover of night, on the unique dragon-shaped ice surface of Harbin Ice and Snow World, colorful light effects change all the way, coming from all directions, from the ice surface to the main tower, from flat to three-dimensional. The colorful lights meander and float, like a flying dragon emerging from the water and rushing straight into the jade buildings.

Li Jiayin, the project leader of the main tower of "Crown of Ice and Snow", introduced that the main tower is 43 meters high, equivalent to a 14-story building, and is built with a complex block rotating disk structure. The main tower uses a mobile terminal to control the lighting effect, while enhancing the linkage effect between the main tower and the entire park landscape.

Some people are worried that the large number of light sources will melt the main tower. Don't worry. After more than 20 years of exploration, countless tests and inspections, and through special process technology, the engineering and R&D design personnel can ensure the overall brightness of the ice building while reducing the heat generated by the lamps.

13,000 cubic meters of ice were sculpted by countless ice sculptors in extremely cold temperatures, dozens of meters above the ground, using only knives, shovels, hammers and chisels, to finally create a unique ice landscape in the world - the "Crown of Ice and Snow".

Zhang Guihai, director of the Heilongjiang Ice and Snow Industry Research Institute, said: "Sculpture techniques and tools keep pace with the times. This year, Harbin ice and snow sculptures use advanced equipment and tools such as automatic feeders, high-altitude lifting carriers, mini electric tools, shaping machine piles, and light-weight guard plates, and apply techniques such as intaglio, positive carving, hollowing, and fine grinding. The combination of technology and craftsmanship makes the surface of the ice smooth and bright, and the refraction and reflection of light are better."

"New Year's Eve Ice" helps the Ice and Snow Kingdom open early

In previous years, Harbin Ice and Snow World opened in late December, but this year it opened a week earlier. In order to allow tourists to meet the ice and snow kingdom as early as possible, the park used high technology to store 100,000 cubic meters of ice a year in advance.

The storage of 100,000 cubic meters of "New Year's Eve ice" is a result of scientific and technological innovation, combining traditional ice storage with modern multi-layer insulation technology. The use of "black technology" in ice storage enables the ice storage field to provide suitable storage conditions for the ice - low temperature, light avoidance, heat insulation, and sealing, ensuring that the ice will not melt even in the midsummer when the temperature exceeds 30°C.