To do this I first had to find ice. I discovered that most of Beijing’s ice is actually from manmade lakes outside the city. In the winter, they fill them up, freeze them, and cut huge ice blocks out of them. They then take these ice blocks and keep them in massive freezer warehouses all around the city. I couldn't freeze my own because air bubbles would leave white spots. I needed something clear. So I used these blocks to sculpt the ice children. When they were done, getting them on site was another form of cultural exchange. I needed people to move 100 ice sculptures, so I thought logically: hire furniture movers. I trained around 80 of them for days, because moving a block of ice is not the same as moving a couch. They thought I was, again, crazy, paying them full days' wages just to train to move ice in hot weather. But when it came together and they saw the final pieces standing there, they got it.
