Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, northeast China - Jan 12, 2018
1. Various of contestants making snow sculptures
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhou Hongbo, contestant:
"Our difficulty here is to overcome the hollowed-out design. At first, we had many different design plans, but in the end we wanted to try tackling the most difficult one."

++MUTE++
3. Various of contestants making snow sculptures

Contestants from home and abroad are showing off their skills, making giant snow sculptures at the 23rd Harbin International Snow Sculpture Competition in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The four-day competition, which kicked off on Wednesday, has drawn a total of 25 teams eager to test their skills in Harbin's frigid winter weather.

Making snow sculptures is an intricate craft that involves carving first from inside to outside and then from up to down.

The hardest task in snow sculpting is creating a hollowed-out piece. Contestant Zhou Hongbo wanted to meet that challenge head on.

"Our difficulty here is to overcome the hollowed-out design. At first, we had many different design plans, but in the end we wanted to try tackling the most difficult one," said Zhou.

Snow sculpture experts say snow sculpting is much harder than ice sculpting. If an ice sculpture breaks, workers can use water to reshape it, but if a snow sculpture breaks, it is significantly harder to restore.

Experts say that the judges will not only consider the artistry of the sculptures, but also carving skills and medium used as well.