Now that we're all in a chilly state of mind, this is the perfect time of year to wrap your head around China's jaw-dropping Harbin Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival , which kicked off yesterday and continues its freezing run through February 25.

Using millions of cubic feet of ice taken from the nearby Songhua River, the decades-old festival employs 15,000 workers using their hands or lasers to create thousands of pieces of temporary art that flash in the sunlight by day, and dazzle with rainbow-hued lights during the long, dark nights night (as you can see in the video above). Deionized water is used on some pieces to produce ice as transparent as glass, while the multicolored lights add multi-dimensional depth and beauty. 

From architectural replicas of entire cities to to animals, to mythical gods and beings, to ice slides people can slide down, the sprawling area containing the icy art attracts about a million visitors each year to shiver and marvel in their presence. Beyond the impressive ice sculptures, festival attendees also come for firework shows, ice lanterns, snow sculpture competitions and expos, as well as winter swimming, winter fishing, concerts, ice sporting events. When the festival ends in late February, visitors have the chance to smash the sculptures with ice picks. 

Below are photos already trickling in from this year's event.