25th ice and snow festival opens in NE China's Changchun

(ECNS) -- The 25th Changchun Ice and Snow Festival kicked off on Sunday in northeast China's Jilin Province.

Covering 1.56 million square kilometers, the world-level ice and snow recreation park has over 160 large ice and snow sculptures, including a 512.6-meter slide.

This year's festival will expand the industrial chain of ice and snow as well as promote related consumption.

A series of ice-and-snow-related competitions will be held during the festival, which will last about four months.

The ice and snow festival has been held since 1998 in Changchun. Statistics show it has received 230 million tourists so far and an income of 374.7 billion yuan (about $58.9 billion) since the snow season of 2005.