Twelve artificial snow machines have turned Bird's Nest, the Beijing Olympic venue, into a snowy winter wonderland for kids and tourists.
The Bird's Nest is hosting the "Snow Festival" for two months, marking the latest effort to create a new life for the Chinese National Stadium, where a stunning opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games was staged and where two new world records were set by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.
Man-made snow, up to one meter thick, is carpeting an area of 5,130 square meters and sitting beneath a towering fake ice castle.
As Beijing is suffering from a severe water shortage, the big winter project has triggered environmental concerns since 20,000 cubic meters of water will be used for making artificial snow.
The snow park was expected to change this but it seem to have failed to attract more people on the opening weekend. According to the Bird's Nest records only about 300 to 400 have visited while the expectation was at least 5,000 visitors per day.
Organizers are expecting a total of 200,000 visitors to the snow carnival this year.
