Sapporo hosts annual snow festival

The 64th annual snow festival has opened in Hokkaido, northern Japan.
An opening ceremony was held on Tuesday at Odori Park in the city of Sapporo.

The festival features more than 200 snow and ice sculptures, on display at 3 locations in the city.

Among the sculptures are Wat Benchamabophit, a famous Buddhist temple in the Thai capital of Bangkok and the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. These sculptures are popular with the increasing number of tourists from other parts of Asia.
The local pro baseball team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, was also represented by sculptures of its manager and a rookie player.

The organizer expects an average turnout of roughly 2 million visitors during the festival that runs through next Monday.


/AzerTAc/