The first ice lantern festival was held in Zhaolin Park in 1963. It became an annual tradition, with sculptures eventually supplanting lanterns, though the festival halted for several years during the Cultural Revolution. The event was so popular that it inspired two larger copycat ice and snow festivals on the outskirts of town.

首次兆麟公園冰燈節(jié)于1963年舉行，自此之后變成每年的傳統(tǒng)（雕刻漸漸取代了冰燈），在文化大革命時間斷過。這個活動如此受歡迎，它帶動了郊區(qū)另外兩個更大的冰燈節(jié)的舉行。

The one in Zhaolin Park is now in its 35th season, and it is a far cry from the days of candles flickering in ice lanterns. The Cinderella castle has an escalator running up and an ice slide running down. The entire park glows pink and blue and yellow from neon tubes in the sculptures. A Ferris wheel dominates the skyline.

這是兆麟公園的第三十五屆冰燈節(jié)，冰塊里閃爍的燭光已成為歷史遙遠的記憶?；夜媚锏某潜だ铮詣臃鎏萋噬?，冰滑梯順勢直下。整個公園沉浸在冰雕內(nèi)粉藍黃的氖燈光里，摩天輪劃過天際。

The Disney sculptures were created over a two-week period. Workers began hauling chunks of ice out of the Songhua River on Dec. 6. At the start, when the ice is thinner, the blocks weigh more than 850 pounds. As the ice thickens during the winter, the blocks can weigh up to twice that.

迪士尼雕塑的完成花了超過兩周的時間。工人們自12月6號就開始從松花江里搬運冰塊。這時候，冰還比較薄，但也超過850磅。隨著冰在嚴冬里逐漸變厚，冰塊可以變成原來的兩倍大。

A ticket costs $15, almost double what it was last year. That is expensive by Chinese standards, but the festival is still a big draw, with an average of 3,000 attendees per day. On a recent night, when temperatures dipped below minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, thousands of people streamed in.

門票15美元，幾乎是去年的兩倍。這對中國人來說算是比較昂貴了，但是冰燈節(jié)深得人心，平均每天約有3,000名游客前來游玩。最近某個晚上，當溫度達到零下4華氏度時（-20℃，譯者注），數(shù)千人魚貫而入。

“This is beautiful,” said Li Jing, 22, a university student wearing fake cat ears who posed for a photo beneath a picture of Tigger on an ice wall. “It brings my childhood memories back. I watched a lot of cartoons when I was young, like Winnie the Pooh.”

“這些太美了，”22歲的大學生李靜（音譯）說，她戴著假貓耳朵與一只冰墻上的跳跳虎合影?！斑@讓我找回了兒時的回憶，小時候我看了很多像維尼熊之類的動畫片?！?BR>

People coming to see more Chinese-themed sculptures now have to go to one of the two festivals north of the city, both run by the government or a state-owned enterprise. The older of the two was founded 15 years ago and has giant snow sculptures — a central piece this year is a replica of the Olympic stadium known as the Bird’s Nest. The other festival, The World of Ice and Snow, is only 10 years old, but has become the biggest and most popular of the three.

想要看到更多中國主題的冰雕，就要選擇城市北部另外兩個冰燈節(jié)之一了。那兩個都是政府或者國有企業(yè)主辦的。其中一個建立于15年前，有巨型冰雕——今年的壓軸作品是奧林匹克體育場，也就是眾所周知的鳥巢。另外一個——冰天雪地，僅僅建立了10年，但是已經(jīng)成為三個中最大也最受歡迎的一個。

The same size as Tiananmen Square, it is several times larger than the one in Zhaolin Park. It took 12,500 people to create the sculptures. It has soaring ice cathedrals with flashing lights, a gargantuan snow Buddha and an outdoor skating musical with an actor dressed as Uncle Sam.

與天安門廣場的面積相同，它比兆麟公園的冰燈節(jié)規(guī)模大得多。12,500人參與冰雕的制作。其中，帶著閃爍燈光的冰雕大教堂與日俱增。公園里還有一座大型的冰雕佛陀和戶外溜冰音樂劇，演員著裝頗似山姆大叔。