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Published: January 9th 2012
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04-01-2012
Today is what ended up as an eating day. With other words we didn't manage to really do much more exciting things but eat every 2 hours or so. This was mainly due to the fact we were taking a long time to do simple things. It's excrutiaingly hard to find an internet cafe in Harbin. We were first walking circles trying to find one which was non-existent but present on the crappy Lonely Planet map, then we decided to ask at the tourist information centre if they could show us one. The girls at the main desk talked back and forth to each other trying to figure out where there was internet, then finally after about 5 minutes and a conversation with the doorman, came up with an address. After another search and questioning about 5 people (also walking into some random buisnesses) we managed to make contact with the wide world. Well, as much as possible. We scored an internet cable in the electronics store so we could utilise the broadband if it were present in later travels. To drag on and say anything else about what we did this day would be a total bore so it's time to move on to tomorrow's excitement.
Becca x
Took far too many photos...
05-01-2012
Today is the official opening of the ice festival (we're hoping for fireworks!). The ice festival is actually split into 3 locations, all with their own ridiculously high priced entry tickets (oh well). We chose to see the snow sculptures and the main ice expo setting us back around a thousand yen (ouch!). There are actually small ice sculptures dotted around the whole city, on the main street there are proper sculpted pieces of art and in the stix (where our hotel was) theres small towers baring lanterns.
The prospect of going out of the warmth of any building into the freezing cold is quite daunting each time. Even though we were in Harbin a couple of days there is absolutely no getting used to feeling like your toes are going to fall off or the pain that rushes through your fingers from the polar exposure. As a result we didn't manage to get up and out of bed and ready to go very quickly. The snow sculptures were located accross the frozen river on an island so we decided to wander over instead of using the many other ways to visit (horse, chairs with sticks etc. etc.). To explain what the (sometimes) enormous sculptures looked like is pretty much a pointless excercise, so I'd advise all readers that have the link to just check out the photo's or Google 'Harbin Snow and Ice Festival'.
We managed to get to the ice location by pointing at pictures and handing over a couple of Yuan and getting huddled onto a crowded bus. The ice festival is like a neon wonderland of ice constructions and you'll see nothing like it in your life anywhere else. Most likely you won't see it in your life so... nahnahnahnahnah... After mooching around the many bits of the ice park freezing and defrosting our feet (yes they had heating in the glass greenhouse looking boxes which were cafes) for 2 hours waiting for a fireworks display which never came, we headed off back to the hotel.
It's quite pleasurable being back in the familiar world as India was so shockingly different. Although vacuum packaged chicken legs and other meats that are basically undefinable are nothing known, and absolutely no one speaks a word of English (why would they...), it's a Chinese home from home (although nowhere near as warm as home). Yes, it's darn cold out there, and the coldness really is a big part of what Harbin is all about, so there's no two ways about it but I'm going to talk about the cold. Fur coats are a big thing in Harbin, it's anyones guess if it's real fur or not (some sporting bright pink jackets) but they do look really nice and cosy and are decorated with jewels. Talking about fur coats, theres a shed load of Russians on holiday in Harbin. I'm guessing they are just looking for somewhere with a milder climate to spend there Christmas holidays never mind the huge buildings made of ice. Signing off now as it is time to drink some beer (we've been terribly lazy in writing and so are filling in these days from Beijing).
Becca x
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