http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Heilongjiang/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Heilongjiang en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:33:40 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:33:40 UTC We took a fast train from Beijing to Harbin about 7 hours. The fast trains travel at 214 Kph top speed fyi. Harbin was our first stop outside Beijing and it was a little intimidating at first. The train station is across from the Long Distance Bus Station and a large square contains countless taxis two city bus stops an underground mall and hawkers everywhere selling everything from nuts to http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-337897.html Note this was written over many several disjointed days so I apologize for any disjointed thoughts and eventshellip Since I havenrsquot written in a few days I have forgotten most things I did last week. Looking at my last post though that is probably best as it removes the majority of rambling that no one really wants to read anyway. Tina arrived at SaiBei Farm on Friday afternoon thankful http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-278126.html There are 10 Ligers in the world. An animal of unnatural breeding... The result of a copulation between an African Male lion and a female tiger... Mythical creatures one might think upon hearing their name. However while on an excurision to the local Yabuli Dongbe Tiger Rehabilitation Preservation Park in the middle of nowhere... after feeding a live chicken to some hungerravenged tigers 5 of http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-277872.html After some wild flower picking and a quick jaunt around the ldquoresortrdquo grounds on a brand spankin new red pimp daddy of a mountain bike owned by the Sun Mountainrsquos director Mr. Yue Gong I am ready to tell you all about Yabuli Moutai and drinking from teapots eating fresh spring frogs the value of fish eyeballs how to say good morning in Russian what a multibillionaire loo http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-272779.html The last time I ventured out of our Park Avenue apartment to see more of this vast country I wound up a few borders away and on a bus to Nowheresville Philippines. With a new adventure ahead and a semiunderstanding of the unpredictability of the innerworkings of my brain this made it very hard to pack my suitcase. Or should I bring a duffel bag Perhaps a backpack I ended up with a bag o http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-271538.html The first thing I saw upon exiting the train station in Harbin was a massive ice sculpture of several pigs to celebrate the impending Chinese New Year glowing with green light in such a manner they seemed to be dancing to the music spilling from nearby nightclubs. Harbin seemed to be a lively town. In spite of the cold the streets were packed with throngs of people including a large number o http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-267546.html This is the second of two blogs featuring my visit to HaerbinHarbin in Heilongjiang Province in the NE of China. As previously stated the main attraction for me to venture into these frozen realms during the coldest Chinese winter in 50 years was to experience the HaerbinHarbin International Ice and Snow Festival a series of gala events involving ice and snow carving art.The Ice and Snow Fest http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-263199.html I'm going to preface this story with So my friends and I are sitting around on a Wednesday night discussing the following weekend not the upcoming weekend the one after that. We had planned on going to Harbin in Northern China to travel because we did not have anything to do and do not have tests approaching after it. However a crutch was thrown into our plan because the Major League Bas http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-254564.html On Wednesday January 23rd we got up and headed out to see other parts of Harbin another sightseeing street and the temple area. First we walked down a street near our hotel to see the provincial musuem. We weren't interested in going in the museum but it was on our way to another street with more westernstyle churches and then at the far end were the temples.We walked along the avenue an http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-246156.html PROLOGUEI've been pining for Harbin for the past 2 years. As a Southeast Asian the thought of seeing that much snow and experiencing freezerlike weather is quite...alluring So when a friend suggested the idea of quick getaway to Harbin I gave it some serious thought. It would cost me a lot for a weekend but then again Harbin is one of those destinations you only need to see once although http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-244413.html The week of January 21st I visited Harbin the capital of the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. This northern province borders on Russia and hosts and annual wintertime Ice and Snow Festival. If you like ice and snow you'll love Harbin. It was wonderful to be in a place with real winter as I like to say. There was bitterly cold temps windchill factor and frostbite danger. Oooh now http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-240224.html Have you ever been somewhere sooooo cold that your eyelashes temporarily froze together This was one of the more unusual experiences I had on a visit to HaerbinHarbin in the North East of China this past JanuaryPart of the joy of travelling is in setting personal challenges in order to stretch your boundaries of comfort. This is how I as a woman from the subtropics of Queensland Australia http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-237318.html The end of our fall semester was celebrated by a punishing trip to the far north near russia. It was quite cold. The train was tiring but eyeopening. Talked to a woman who works in a kitchen cupboard manufacturing plant...heard about the low wages gt12 hr shifts with no sitting the rising cost of living etc. Her husband was deceased and she was still raising a son so it struck me as odd http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-234384.html This thing is going to turn into my random thought notebook.Today my teacher game me the words certain and late and told me to make a sentence out of them. My sentence was I'm certain to return to the dorm late on Saturday night. My teacher then asked me why Every day I have to remind myself that this is not America. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-180123.html So I've had an eventful week. First on Thursday one of my classes took me to the fruit vendors and told us to buy some fruit she watched us so we weren't gesturing and using hand signals . I bought grapes that turned out to be extremely sour as they were way too young I forgot that outside the US growing seasons mean something haha Saturday was the biggest day as we left at 9 AM and they http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-178618.html My Travel Diary Day 1 Time 2 hours into the long flight The first lesson of travel things always look better on paper. Case in point 1 the Sterling Silver Sirloin Steak which is described as a steak ldquocomplimented by Asian barbecue sauce green onion rice red bell pepper strip and sugar snap peas.rdquo It turned out to be a microwaved steak with a odd but good sweetspicy sau http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-174568.html Vrijdag 2 februari.De afgelopen nacht had ik helaas niet goed geslapen. Mijn verkoudheid was verergerd en ik had geen trek in ontbijt of koffie en voelde me nogal loom. Ik bleef tot 12u bijna de hele tijd in bed met nog een dafalgan nu vooral tegen de hoofdpijn. Berna werkte heel die tijd verder aan het praktisch deel van het verslag dat zo goed als af is en binnenkort op de weblog zou moeten k http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-125989.html Maandag 29 januari.Vanochtend na het ontbijt van 7u waren we om 8u klaar om te vertrekken naar het busstation. In de grote wachtzaal zaten we ruim op tijd te wachten bij uitgang 7 voor de bus naar Harbin om 9u15. Het was er erg druk maar goed georganiseerd om de 5 10 minuten vertrok er aan elke van de 10 uitgangen wel een bus. Om ongeveer 8u50 hoorde ik dat bij uitgang 7 niet alleen de bus http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Harbin/blog-125456.html Woensdag 9 augustus.Na een snel ontbijt op de kamer koffie en wat koekjes namen we de bus naar Hezhen. De rit duurde amper een uur en net toen we wilden vragen om ons te waarschuwen als we bij het museum kwamen zagen we veel volk staan bij twee opvallende en nieuwe gebouwen. Dit bleek het paleontologisch museum te zijn. Er bleek duidelijk iets gaande bij alle ingangen stond politie en een mas http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Heilongjiang/Hezhen/blog-88501.html