Written by: YIN Yanqi&JI Xing
Translated by: DU Yufei
Edited by: William Mosteller
Date: 12-24
HIT News (Written by YIN Yanqi& JI Xing, photo by Official WeChat Team, LAN Rui, FENG Jian, LIU Zhongkui, and LIU Yang) The HIT Ice and Snow Festival, featuring delicious food, beautiful ice lanterns, and many interesting games, which was very popular among WeChat friends circles last year, once again came as promised. On the evening of December 22nd, in front of the square of the electric machinery building, the pedestrian street was packed with people who were witnessing the grand opening of the Ice and Snow Festival. The main ice sculptures were lit up one by one, fireworks bloomed around the stage, and balloons flew from the ground to the night sky. With the opening of the "Starlight Gate" by WANG Shuquan, secretary of the Party Committee of HIT, the second Ice and Snow Culture Festival started. XIONG Sihao, executive deputy secretary of the school party committee, Vice Presidents AN Shi and XU Xiaofei, WU Songquan, member of the standing committee of the school party committee and propaganda minister, and PENG Yuankui, assistant president, attended the opening ceremony.
Just as General Secretary XI Jinping has pointed out that "the world of ice and snow is also the world of gold", ZHANG Qingwei, secretary of the provincial party committee, has repeatedly stressed that "the development of the ice and snow economy should be taken as an important way to adjust the structure and transform the mode of the provincial economy". The ice and snow culture is not only the characteristic tradition that introduces Heilongjiang to the whole country and the world, but also an important cultural name card for Harbin Institute of Technology as we establish a world-class university. Last winter, with the careful planning and full support of various functional departments of the university, the first campus ice and snow culture festival of HIT was a complete success and was widely praised by staff members and students, earning national praise and a good reputation.
At this year's opening ceremony, some school leaders presented awards to the winning teams of the International College Students' Ice Sculpture Competition and the International Ice and Snow Innovation and Construction Competition. According to the selection of experts, the entries "Lotus" won the first prize in the International College Students' Ice Sculpture Competition, "Trace" and "Carefree Travel " won the second prize, and "Rhythm, Ice China", "Auspicious Clouds and Dragons " and "Seabed World" won the third prize. In the International Ice and Snow Innovation and Construction Competition, Cambridge University won the Best Design and Construction Works Award, while Tsinghua University, Eindhoven University of Technology and Leuven University United, Kent State University, and HIT won the Outstanding Design and Construction Works Award.
After the opening ceremony, some school leaders, together with teachers and students, visited the ice and snow landscape and shared in the ice and snow carnival. The luminescent ice works were glamorous and enchanting. The splendid scenery of ice and snow attracted many tourists, and people recorded this wonderful moment with photos one after another.
The pedestrian street was full of delicacies, including kebabs, Sugar-Coated Berry, Yuanxiao, and cakes. In the bustling long street, various games, such as catching ice cubes, making ice and snow balls, three snowmen, and ice and snow clocks, were carried out happily under the theme of "Ice and Snow Culture". Although playing games required queuing, it still did not stop people's enthusiasm for entertainment in winter.
This year's Ice and Snow Festival paid more attention to the landscape continuity and sightseeing experience of the ice and snow campus. The seven major sectors permeate each other and are more interactive, participatory, and entertaining. They mainly include a series of activities such as the International College Students' Ice Sculpture Contest, the International Ice and Snow Building Contest, the Snow Building Contest, the Ice and Snow Fun Games, the Postgraduate Ice and Snow Academic Forum, the Ice and Snow Photography Contest, the Ice and Snow Carnival, and the Special Food Exhibition.
