Jilin Rime Ice & Snow Festival

What is Rime Ice
The rime ice is a natural phenomenon that occurs every year during January and February. It is a result of when water vapor rises up from the warm Songhua River to meet the cold -20 °C (-4 °F) night air, causing the crystallisation of water vapour on willows branches.

Popularly known as 'snow willow' or 'ice flower', rime is a common natural phenomenon during northern China's brutally cold winters. It is white ice that forms when water droplets from fog freeze on the outer surface of objects, such as electrical wires and twigs. As specific category of frost, rime is an accumulation of granular ice tufts on the windward sides of objects after fog or clouds are supercooled by the wind. Due to precise conditions the phenomenon requires, rime appears only occasionally and in varying locations.

Jilin Rime Ice  
Sprawling along the Songhua River, Jilin City is the second largest city in Jilin Province. Jilin was formerly called "Jilin Wula", which means "along the river" in the Manchu language. Jilin is referred to as a river city because of Boat Sailing on the Songhua River, a verse composed by Emperor Kang Xi of the Qing Dynasty during his inspection tour of the east. It is surrounded on all sides by the offset of the Changbai Mountains, and the Songhua River that flows in a S-shaped course through the urban area looks like a blue ribbon. 

Jilin City is a popular destination for tourists to come each winter to view the magnificent rime ice (Wusong) on trees along the banks of the Songhua River, (the river is the only river in the region that does not freeze in winter). Though Jilin is not outstanding as a tourist city, its name spreads among travelers nationwide because of the rime. The rime on the Songhua River is one of four natural wonders in China, enjoying equal fame as Guilin Mountains and Streams, Yunnan Stone Forest and the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River do. The rime, also called "snow willow", "tree hanging", "ice flowers", "water vaporized flowers", "silver flowers", is a kind of phenomenon, in which winter fog condenses on the branches and leaves of trees to form separate, white ice crystals, according to metrology.

Besides Wusong Island and the banks of the Songhua River, the Songhua Lake, located beyond the Fengman Power Station nearby Jilin City is another good place to enjoy the beautiful rime. The rime appears from about mid-December to the first half of March and is best seen from the dam and along the shore.

Jilin Rime Ice Snow Festival
The eighteenth China's Jilin International Rime Ice and Snow Festival themed with "beautiful Jilin City, happy winter journey" in 2013 kicked off on the square in front of the municipal government beside the Songhua River in Jilin City on the morning of December 28. 

The current Rime Ice and Snow Festival includes 12 programs, namely the opening ceremony of the "Praise of Winter" eighteenth China's Jilin International Rime Ice and Snow Festival the "Passion of Winter" ; "Brightness of Winter" China's Jilin International Rime Ice and Snow Festival large musical fireworks show; "Happiness of Winter" China's Jilin City Kanto Yange big performance; "Hot of Winter" China's Jilin International Bikini Fun Ski Show; "Beauty of Winter" China's Jilin International Rime Ice and Snow Festival image ambassador selection; "Warmth of Winter" the fourth China's Jilin Ice and Snow Spa Culture Tourism Festival; "Fun of Winter" China's Jilin International Rime Ice and Snow Festival ski carnival; "Challenge of Winter" 2013 China's Jilin thousand people winter swim in Songhua River; "Whirling of Winter" Jilin City amateur hockey game and Jilin City youth short track speed skating competition; "Impression of Winter" Jilin rime ice and snow photography contest and "Experience of Winter" fitness ski by organs directly under the authority. The entire festival activities will continue until the end of February 2013. At night, a large-scale fireworks show was held at Fengfan Square beside the Songhua River. Tens of thousands of fireworks shot up to the sky, and gorgeous fireworks lit the night sky of the river city. Instantaneously, the people danced for joy, and both sides the Songhua River turned into a sea of joy.