The 21st International Ice and Snow Festival opened Wednesday in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

According to the city's tourism bureau, the festival includes ice-snow art shows, cultural and tourism programs, business conferences, ice-snow sculpture contests and sports competitions.

More than 600 participants including diplomats from 46 countries and representatives with four international organizations were present at the opening ceremony.

The annual festival, which debuted in 1985, has become a traditional winter event in the city, attracting thousands of tourists from both China and abroad.

(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2005)