Every holiday season, master ice carvers from Harbin, China travel more than 6,600 miles to Galveston Island to transform more than 2 million pounds of ice into the sculptures of ICE LAND at Moody Gardens.
When temperatures drop and the holidays near, Moody Gardens on Galveston Island starts building with ice. Hundreds of blocks of crystal-clear ice arrive by the truckload, and a team of master carvers, fresh from one of the most competitive ice sculpture competitions on earth, gets to work carving them into sculptures you can walk through.
This is ICE LAND, Moody Gardens' signature winter attraction. The story behind it stretches more than 6,600 miles, all the way to Harbin, China.
ICE LAND is an indoor ice sculpture attraction held each holiday season at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas. Guests walk through a large refrigerated space kept at 9°F, past tall, detailed ice sculptures lit from within by colored lights.
The artists behind ICE LAND are the CAA Harbin Ruijing Ice Carving Team, an internationally acclaimed group of master ice carvers from Harbin, China, widely regarded as one of the premier ice carving teams in the world. Using chisels, chainsaws, grinders, and specialized hand tools, they coax enormous blocks of frozen water into characters, cityscapes, animals, and architectural details with a level of detail that seems impossible for the medium.
The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival is the largest ice and snow festival in the world, held annually in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China. The festival draws millions of visitors each year and features entire buildings constructed from blocks of ice harvested from the frozen Songhua River. Ice castles rise four and five stories tall. International teams compete in carving competitions judged on technique, creativity, and execution.
The CAA Harbin Ruijing Ice Carving Team has competed and excelled on this world stage. The skills honed at Harbin's festival are exactly what it takes to build ICE LAND in Galveston each holiday season.
Harbin sits in the far northeastern corner of China, where winter temperatures plunge to -22°F and below. Galveston Island is about as far from Harbin as you can get: a Gulf Coast barrier island where winter highs hover in the 60s and the air smells like salt water. The team travels more than 6,600 miles to bring their art here.
The building process begins weeks before ICE LAND opens. Ice blocks, each weighing up to 300 pounds, are delivered to the refrigerated build space. The CAA Harbin Ruijing Ice Carving Team works in shifts carving, assembling, and detailing each sculpture.
ICE LAND is open for a limited time each holiday season. This year, ICE LAND: Caribbean Christmas runs with Holiday in the Gardens from Nov. 21, 2026, to Jan. 2, 2027. Parkas are provided. Tickets are available online in advance. ICE LAND is included with the Holiday Pass, which also grants access to other seasonal attractions across the resort.
Come see the work of carvers who travel more than 6,600 miles to build it.
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