Life as an Ice Carver at Harbin Festival

Keywords

冰雕师 - bīngdiāoshī - ice carver / ice sculpturer
冰雕 - bīngdiāo - ice sculpture
创作 - chuàngzuò - to create / to produce / to write / creative work / creation
设计 - shèjì - to design / to plan / design / plan
雕刻 - diāokè - to carve / to engrave / carving
投入 - tóurù - to throw into / to put into / to throw oneself into / to participate in / to invest in / absorbed / engrossed
精力 - jīnglì - energy
艰苦 - jiānkǔ - difficult / hard / arduous
作品 - zuòpǐn - work (of art) / opus
温度 - wēndù - temperature
冷库 - lěngkù - cold storage / refrigerator
患上 - huànshàng - contracted (an illness)
腰椎盘突出 - yāozhuī pán tūchū - lumbar disc herniation
职业病 - zhíyèbìng - occupational disease
寒气 - hánqì - cold air
损伤 - sǔnshāng - to harm / to damage / to injure / impairment / loss / disability
承受 - chéngshòu - to bear / to support / to inherit
劳累 - láolèi - tired / exhausted / worn out / to toil
折磨 - zhémó - to persecute / to torment
转行 - zhuǎnháng - to change profession
季节性 - jìjiéxìng - seasonal
旺季 - wàngjì - busy season / peak period
集中 - jízhōng - to concentrate / to centralise / to focus / centralised / concentrated / to put together
从事 - cóngshì - to go for / to engage in / to undertake / to deal with / to handle / to do
热爱 - rè'ài - to love ardently / to adore
精致 - jīngzhì - delicate / fine / exquisite / refined
细节 - xìjié - details / particulars
处理 - chǔlǐ - to handle / to treat / to deal with / to process
欣赏 - xīnshǎng - to appreciate / to enjoy / to admire
表情 - biǎoqíng - (facial) expression / to express one's feelings / expression

Grammar

Verb / Adj. + 于 + Object - Expressing that the action or adj. is "in / at / to / from" a certain object with "Verb + yú + Object" (object can be a place, time, person, entity etc.)
出生于1998年的徐浩男也是一名冰雕师。

无法 + Verb / Verb Phrase - Expressing to be "unable / incapable of doing sth" with "wúfǎ + Verb / Verb Phrase"
很多人也因为无法承受长时间的劳累和病痛折磨而转行。

Word + 性 - Expressing a property / characteristic / suffix forming adjective from verb / suffix forming noun from adjective (similar to adding "-ility", "-ness" or "-ic") with "xìng"
冰雕师的年收入并不高。因为冰雕是季节性的工作，工作旺季主要集中在每年的12月到次年的2月。

(在)…期间 - Expressing "during (a period of time)" with "(zài)…qījiān"
在这期间，做得好的年轻冰雕师一般也只能赚三到四万元。

反而… - Expressing "on the contrary / contrary (to expectations)…" with "fǎn'ér…" (indicates that something is unexpected or beyond expectations)
他们从不觉得累，也从不偷工减料，反而非常重视作品的精致度和细节处理。

Grammar

Verb / Adj. + 於 + Object - Expressing that the action or adj. is "in / at / to / from" a certain object with "Verb + yú + Object" (object can be a place, time, person, entity etc.)
出生於1998年的徐浩男也是一名冰雕師。

無法 + Verb / Verb Phrase - Expressing to be "unable / incapable of doing sth" with "wúfǎ + Verb / Verb Phrase"
很多人也因為無法承受長時間的勞累和病痛折磨而轉行。

Word + 性 - Expressing a property / characteristic / suffix forming adjective from verb / suffix forming noun from adjective (similar to adding "-ility", "-ness" or "-ic") with "xìng"
冰雕師的年收入並不高。因為冰雕是季節性的工作，工作旺季主要集中在每年的12月到次年的2月。

(在)…期間 - Expressing "during (a period of time)" with "(zài)…qījiān"
在這期間，做得好的年輕冰雕師一般也只能賺三到四萬元。

反而… - Expressing "on the contrary / contrary (to expectations)…" with "fǎn'ér…" (indicates that something is unexpected or beyond expectations)
他們從不覺得累，也從不偷工減料，反而非常重視作品的精致度和細節處理。

Proper Nouns

哈尔滨 - Hā'ěrbīn - Harbin (capital of Heilongjiang Province)
网易新闻 - Wǎngyì Xīnwén - NetEast / www.163.com
广西 - Guǎngxī - Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region
北海 - Běihǎi - Beihai (city in Guangxi Zhuang)

Idioms

偷工减料 - tōugōngjiǎnliào - to skimp on the job and stint on materials / jerry-building / sloppy work