Every February, the city of Sapporo (yes, that's where the beer is from) turns the liability of a harsh winter into a tourist magnet.

During the annual Sapporo Snow Festival, about 2 million visitors descend on the northernmost island in Japan to gape at huge, detailed statues and sculptures made completely of snow.

Yet even though the city gets an average of 16 feet of snowfall a year, the festival relies on trucks to bring in additional snow and to move the white stuff to the parks where the sculptures are made. Each year, 35,000 tons of snow are moved for the event.

In the past, international teams of artists have recreated highly detailed replicas of The British Museum and China's Forbidden City, as well as giant sculptures of cartoon characters and ice slides for the kiddies.

The festival has come a long way from its informal start in 1950, when senior high school students with time on their hands made six snow sculptures in the city park.

This year, during the Feb. 5-11 festival, more than 300 snow and ice statues were built in three sites, at an amazing level of architectural detail and achievement.