The 38th Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo opened on Wednesday in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
With the them of "a world of ice and snow, a scene of poetic beauty," this edition of the Expo covers an exhibition area of 1.5 million square meters, using a total of 120,000 cubic meters of snow. Every year, the Expo features a super-large main snow sculpture, one of the biggest highlights of the entire event.
This year's main sculpture is 103 meters long, 20 meters wide, and 33 meters high, using 30,000 cubic meters of snow, with the finishing touches underway.
The main sculpture centers on a giant panda in an astronaut suits, incorporating iconic landmarks such as the Great Wall and the Dayan Pagoda, along with aerospace elements, showing China's cultural heritage and aerospace achievements.
Services of the event have also been upgraded with heated shelters set up every three minutes of walk within the park, offering free hot water and ginger tea to visitors.
Int'l Snow Sculpture Art Expo opens in Heilongjiang
Bulgaria joined the eurozone and adopted the euro as its official currency on New Year's Day, becoming the 21st member of the euro area.
To ensure a smooth transition to the new currency, throughout January, the Bulgarian lev will remain in circulation alongside the euro. Starting Feb. 1, the euro will become the country's sole legal tender.
From Jan. 1 to June 30, the exchange of lev for euros is free of charge at banks and post offices. After this period, currency exchanges will be subject to a fee.
The Bulgarian National Bank has stated that it will exchange levs for euros indefinitely, continuing the process for as long as necessary. But it added that the mandatory dual pricing of goods and services in euro and lev will end on Aug. 8, 2026. Officials and experts have expressed their confidence in the transition process.
Vladimir Ivanov, chairman of Bulgaria's State Commission on Commodity Exchanges and Markets, described 2025 as a year of market stabilization in a brief meeting, saying he expected 2026 to begin similarly, "especially after transaction costs decrease with the introduction of the euro."
Nikolay Valkanov, executive director of the Association for Modern Trade, also said in an interview that retailers, from large chains to small shops, had made significant efforts to ensure a smooth transition to the new currency.
Eurozone accession has been a central priority for the Bulgarian government ever since the country joined the EU in 2007.
It was not until June 4, 2025, that the European Commission announced Bulgaria had met all convergence criteria. On July 8, 2025, the Council of the European Union formally approved Bulgaria's adoption of the euro, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
The eurozone came into existence with the official launch of the euro on Jan. 1, 1999, in 11 countries including France, Germany and Austria.
Currently among the 27 EU countries, there are still six members, namely Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Denmark, that have not yet adopted the euro.
Bulgaria officially adopts euro with short transition period
