Harbin

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Coming from northern Alberta, we know what cold is. And when it is cold, a person bundles up, sits in front of the television (or fireplace) and drinks hot chocolate - or other warm beverage. It was not in my range of thinking that I would be heading out to the airport for a trip to Harbin- to check out an Ice Festival - on New Year's day, with the temperature at our destination a frosty -39 Celcius! It so reminded me of one year ago when Connellans, Tutts and Berrys met at the Nest in Slave Lake for a 3 day ski and wine trip, departing at -40. Both of these ended up being fabulous trips, though.


Leaving Rick behind, I joined Fairy (our intrepid tour guide), her husband Paddy, Marion as well as Peter and Dianne, in a warmish taxi to the Dalian airport. From there, it was an easy one and a half hour flight to Heilongiang province in north eastern China. From the air it looked remarkedly like Canada - mountains, snow covered fields (all rice not wheat), meandering rivers and many small villages. On arriving at the airport, we noticed two large 'Change Rooms', not unlike in a department store - I guess so that travellers can put on extra layers before venturing out into the frigid temperatures.


We were met by a van and driver arranged by Fairy, who took us to our hotel - another hour drive to downtown Harbin - a large city of about 9 million people. It is the first major city south of the Russian border, so there is a major Russian presence, in the architecture, people and culture, although it is definitely a Chinese city.


Our hotel was great - an old heritage type of building that has been beautifully restored. Anitques and pictures of famous guests were everywhere; we wished that we could have read the door signs to see who had stayed in each of the rooms. Our rooms were in the new section, so not as fancy, but nice and clean, warm, great service and a delicious breakfast - both western and Chinese. It is such a bonus to travel with a chinese guide who can deal with hotels, drivers, tickets and all the other services. With only 4 of us in the 'tour' it was really just a bunch of friends spending a weekend.


The Ice Festival happens in several locations around the city, with ice sculptures on every street, square, park and corner. It is amazing to just drive around. Our first afternoon, at about 4 pm, we set out to see the snow sculptures, which were a considerable drive, but our van was with us for the day, so we didn't have to worry about finding taxis, which are very expensive and difficult to find.


I knew that I was in trouble cold wise as soon as we got out of the van, my feet were freezing. I only had my light winter boots from home, which are fine in Jinshitan, but not good for my cold sensitive feet! The snow sculptures were amazing though. We kept wondering how they got the snow packed into shapes in order to carve the giganitic sculptures. The carvers from St. Isadore would have loved this! It was getting dark soon, and my feet were giving out, so I told Dianne that I was going into a warming station and would catch up with them.


After putting in some foot warmers that Fairy had kindly provided for us, and having hot chocolate, I headed back out only to realize that I would never find them. One to many turns and I would miss them totally. So back to the warming hut; I couldn't phone them because I had Rick's phone (lost mine the weekend before) which had none of their numbers were programmed in. Eventually after calls to Rick, Fairy and back to me- twice- we figured out where each other was. I was quite happy and warm waiting, but she was pretty worried about losing me in the cold!


After that we went for supper, which was another 'adventure'. The food hanging in the front parking lot was the first clue that it wasn't going to be MacDonalds. Then the fish pool inside with metre long fish being clubbed while you watched was the second clue. Walking upstairs past peoples bedrooms, televisions and kids toys all over the floor was the third , and the private room complete with a 'kang' and cooking table was the best. You'll have to check out the pictures, because it is too hard to describe. I guess the workers live in the restaurant, so upstairs it really is their home. It took a while to get organized. We unfortunately had to move out of our initial room that was so cozy with the wood heated bed and cooking table. We were not happy being moved to a regular room, but I guess a group had ordered a large fish, and they needed the table with the built in cooker to do their meal. That would have been interesting. We evenutally got fed- Fairy always orders dishes that are not too outrageous, so we lucked out with some fairly standard Chinese dishes that were easy to take.


After that we headed back into the van to go to the main ice show - the lights. It was truly amazing and worth all the cold that we had to endure. Having seen pictures before we went, I had an idea of what to expect, but it was better. All of the buildings were replicas of famous places around the world, as well as giant chess sets, Terra Cotta horses, skating rinks, horse drawn buggies, Mongolian 'yurts' to warm up in. Paddy said he thought that it was more impressive than his visit to the Grand Canyon. Never having been there, I can't compare, but it was impressive.


The next two days involved more touring to different locations in the city to see different parts of the festival. The ice carvings were very amazing too, the lines, curves and details were truly works of art. We loved the ice slides too! Day 2 saw me buying a new pair of Harbin boots. They were cheap but very warm, so after that I was much happier to be outside. The boots are now starting to fall apart, but they did the job for the weekend.


For the hearty and the foolish, the river is the place to be. There are horse and dog pulled sleds, snow machines( you might call them snowmobiles), chair skating (hmm - sit on a chair with blades and push yourself with two short poles), ice sailing, ice slides, and swimming .
The events at the river on the third day reminded me a lot of the Pond Hockey tournament at Lac Cardinal - lots of fun, people and outdoor activities.


My trip ended a bit earlier than the rest. Because Rick and I had initially booked the trip on our own, not with the group, my flight left a couple of hours earlier than theirs. So after being ripped off by a taxi driver, I made it to the airport to head back. Not the end of the adventure though- cold weather and snow had hit Dalian as well, so almost home, we were told that our airport was closed and were rerouted to a nearby airport in TsingTao - think beer- to wait until it reopened. There were at least 15 teachers on our flight, so we wondered how they would cope with classes with no subs! Subs at school is a whole other story. Anyway, after spending about 4 hours in the airport, we finally took off again - it was one of the most tense flights that I have ever been on-the plane was really shaking. Everyone cheered and clapped when we finally stopped taxiing pulled up to the gate. Dalian shuts down in snow, so no taxis were running and it was late. Fortunately, the airport had arranged a bus and took us all home, tired, but able to go to work the next day.

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Photos

Snow Festival
It was amazing to see these people working on the snow scuptures - first it was so cold, and also, they are working such a large scale. How do they see the 'big picture' and keep things in perspective?

Finished product
It was not actually all done, but the faces on these two sculptures looked so smooth that they could have been carved out of marble.

Cold shot
My camera was freezing up, but I love the image of this scuplture in the swirling cold. I had to keep my camera under my armpit in order to get any shots, so I ended up being so cold!

Supper
Do you recognize any of the meat? This is the restaurant where we ate supper and all of this meat was sitting (frozen, obviously) on a table in the front parking lot. The ones hanging up are particularly suspicious looking! I don't think that this was part of our meal (I hope not!).

Fishing pond
Tanks like this are very popular here, very fresh fish for dinner. This was a big one, though.

Private Dining
This was our first dining room. The bed (called a kang) is on the left. This is a traditional bed with a fire to keep it warm. It is made of concrete and has a plastic covering that is easy to wipe and keep clean. The one we saw in Fairy's village earlier this fall, was heated from the fire in the kitchen. You can see the other fire going on under the table; this will heat the cooking pot in the middle of the table where food is cooked right at your table.

Warming up
Marion, Peter and I were really enjoying the heat of the kang and thawing out our mitts and outer clothing. The waitress wasn't too impressed and made it be known that we were to clear ourselves and our things off- No fun with her!

Impressive snow sculptures
These two sculptures were at the main Ice festival where we went after supper. They were spectucular in size and detail. The actual Festival was not opened for another week, but most things were ready with only some finishing touches to be done.

The Forbidden City
A small preview of what we are looking forward to seeing on our spring holiday in Beijing.

The Great Wall
The Great Wall was great because it was also a slide - you could sit on little sleds and go down almost like a luge. We didn't try this because we were all cold, but the next day at the ice carvings we had a go at a couple of the slides.

Empire State Building
Looks just like the real thing!

The Kremlin
We probably won't see this one in person, so the ice version will have to do.

Beautiful lights
If anyone knows what this building is, you can let me know.

Cheers
Cheers to Rick - thinking of you wherever I am!

Terra Cotta horses
We think ice carvings were representations of the terra cotta horses (which we also will see in the spring when Chris and Geoff come), located in Xian - south of Beijing.

Who is more lovely?
Dianne and I pose in front of a crystal like ice carving. It looked like glass and was hard to believe the delicate lines that could be made out of a block of ice. Their ice blocks all seem to come right from the river that runs through the city. I would have loved to see the process of getting them cut.

Ice Sliding
Listen carefully - you can hear me screaming down the slide. The bump at the end was a killer.

Sculptors
Many sculptors were busy working on their blocks. They were all numbered, so must be part of a competition. An additional competition happens during the festival where teams of three from countries around the world (including Canada) have three days to create a scupture out of their block. They have not seen the blocks before, so have to look at the ice and see what is presents to them before they begin.

Our Group
Peter, Paddy (the masked man) Fairy, Gail, Marion and Dianne at the ice carvings on day 2. Fairy is a great guide and a good friend. She makes it fun and easy to travel; organized but very flexible in whatever we want to do. And she chooses interesting restaurants!

Church of San Sophia
The Russian influence in Harbin, including a large Russian population , is obvious in this part of Harbin. Among the many Orthodox churches and Russian style buildings in this region, the St. Sophia Orthodox Church is the most impressive. Once again, cold feet prevented me from seeing this church, which was built in the early 1900's but the rest of the group took a long cold walk to see it.

Dragon races
Peter was being kind and giving Dianne a ride on this ??? what ever you call it. Unbeknowst to him, I caught a ride on the back - he couldn't figure out why it was so hard to push. Too funny.

Snowmobile
Not sure what era this machine came from, but it was good for a picture. Most people have never heard of snowmobiles, and I wouldn't be trusting this one to take me too far.

Ice bathing
This guy was definitely on the crazy side. Not only was he outside at -25 in a speed-o, he was having his friend give him a good rub down, front and back, before he meandered over the the ice diving board. There must have been at least a hundred swimmers, most of who dove in and then swam for a a few minutes.

Good form
There were all sizes and shapes going off the diving blocks. Men and women, old and young, skinny and well padded.

Comments

[Donna Brennan]

Winter!
Looks like you're having a great time. I love the picture of you on the skidoo! Take care. Think of you often.

[dennis Baxendale]

great
Super adventure love your positive attitude. keep the info coming mention your blog address in your standard emails because some of us lose the address

[marg seaton]

great pictures
I finally got on to your travelog- sure glad I did, these are spectacular pictures. Hope Rick is recuperating after his injury. We are getting some of your mail- maybe email us and tell us what to do with it- thanks- Marg

[Diana]

:0)
WOW!!! i'm sitting in my ReStore in northern alberta, in -20C, reading this after the volunteers have all gone home. my feet are always cold in the store, unless i wear extra socks..... it's actually supposed to be a day off, so i'm not dressed for work. a mistake. VERY cold feet today. and nose. so, as i read about your Harbin adventure, i almost felt like i was there. too cool!! literally. i was feeling very empathetic about your cold sensitive feet, Gail. And thinking of Rick, at home recovering and missing all of the fun. Blessings on you both, and thanks ever so much for the travel blog. it's just the greatest thing to follow along and see what you're up to. hug. Except for the pond hockey tourney (mention of which by Gail brought a grin to my face) i have been a bit out of touch with everyone for a while. the weather was mild for it this year, and there were, i believe, 81 teams competing this year. a huge success, i'd say. and, judging by the way the beer garden filled up when we started playing, we did alright. Pat Connelan filled in for you, Rick, with some fear and trepidation. his pond hockey debut, and he pulled it off with flying colors. i've come to the conclusion that there must be a cold weather rosin for fiddle bows, something like different ski waxes for X-country skis at different temperatures. it was, as always, a 'chilling' and huglely fun gig. i think my fiddle is still thawing out ....but i missed your shining mane lighting up centre stage, and no one will even attempt the Rocky Road to Dublin. you're a hard act to follow. We have another gig the week before the biggie, then, of course, St Paddy's. i have a few harp gigs as well, and the faculty recital for GPRC, where i'm teaching for the conservatory.... so, between music, the ReStore and violin lessons, i have time left to eat, sleep, and, if i'm lucky, do my laundry. and i'm lovin' it. the move to GP, though it put way too much distance between me and the Croakers, has been a very good thing. i spend a lot of time with my granddaughter, and i'm re-connecting with old musician friends. well, maybe old isn't the kindest word.... longstanding might be what i mean... except most of them would rather be seated these days.... HFH is looking at building a duplex in summer 2010, and possibly renovating a house before that, in spring. very exciting stuff. 3 Habitat homes in one year, after an average of one every 2 years till now. i keep telling the board we're on a rocket to the moon. they think i'm exagerating, but i'm not.... i really think we are. i'm certain HFH South Peace is about to take of in a big way. as more people get on board, and as the store gets more established, things will really start to happen. it's been suggested by a greater power that my job title be split soon, between ReStore manager, and HFHSPS Executive Director. a promotion, i guess. nice to be appreciated, as i'm pretty much doing both jobs already, with out sanction. and, when i can hire more staff, the load on me should lessen a bit, so i can take some time off..... soooooooo..... i've been looking at Habitat for Humanity builds in that part of the world, thinking i might combine a trip to help build homes with a visit you y'all there. looking at possibly september or October...... there are builds in china, vietnam and nepal within that time window. is the offer to visit still open? i see you're not terribly far (relatively speaking) from the great wall, which is on my 'bucket list'. i'm open to suggestions and guidance. take care stay warm wishing you blessings heaped upon blessings, piled up and spilling over Diana

[RickGailBerry]

Hi Marg - Thanks for the note about the mail - the post office is supposed to be forwarding our mail for a year, but here is our current address in Alberta: %Box 361 Carstairs, Alberta T0M 0N0 Gail