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Published on Sunday, 18 March 2018
Chinese artists build church from snow on Norwegian ski slope

l.la-croix.com :

Chinese artists have built an elaborate church made from snow on a ski slope in Norway as part of a cultural exchange aimed at attracting more tourists from the world’s most populous nation to the Scandinavian country.

The 14-meter-high, 11-meter-wide sculpture has been carved into the side of a slope next to the village of Beitostolen in Oppland county near the popular Jotunheimen national park, Norwegian media reported on March 12.

The village plans to hold a large ice festival next year modeled on one in China that draws 18 million visitors a year.

The artists are experienced in working “miracles” from snow as they hail from the northern Chinese city of Harbin, famous for its annual ice and snow festival, the largest of its kind in the world.

The latest edition of the festival, which ran from December 2017 to February, incorporated China’s Belt and Road Initiative as a theme.

The ice is taken from the nearby Songhua River and carved into elaborate structures including buildings, people and animals that light up at night.

A team from Valdres district in Norway travelled to Harbin earlier to meet the artists and boost tourism.
“This is a big thing in China,” Harbin Winter Sports Association president Hanyu Kang, who was working on the church, told Norwegian media NRK.

“I am super excited. I’ve never seen such a large piece of art made from snow before,” said Atle Haavi, a local hotel manager. “It is simply handiwork of a high standard.”