Advertisement
Published: April 13th 2010
Edit Blog Post
The eleventh Harbin ice and snow festival
For many years now, having a number of Guinness World Records, Haerbin has been presenting this festival to the world. With over 100.000 sq. meters of snow and ice,the festival started in 1999 to call in the new millennium. Ever since, it has been attracting more and more visitors from worldwide to this freezing city with winter temperatures that can get below -30 degrees Celsius! Originally being in Zhaolin Park within the city itself, it has moved to the other side of the mighty Songhua river, which was in the news around the world in December 2005 due to a major water pollution incident. The snow sculptures are in the large Sun Island park, with the Ice festival on the other side of the main road, in the west.
We went on our third day in the city, taking a local city bus across the huge Songhua River Bridge, constructed between 1983 and 1986, with another bridge planned in the west of the city. Veering off the highway to the east, lies the Sun Island park. A large park along the river with great views of the Harbin city skyline, it has lots
of shady trees, lakes and hilltops.
The snow sculptures ranged from around one sq. meter to sculptures the size of a small flat. It being at the end of the season, most of the sculptures had already lost their smooth, polished surfaces and were pocket-holed by bird droppings, wind erosion and other natural elements. Nevertheless, an amazing sight! Large displays showing scenes from long ago dynasties, but also more contemporary and modern sculptures.
In one area was a collection of internationally sculptured statues, with each displaying the participating country. Surprising to see, apart from the expected countries that all lie in a temperate or even cold climate zone, there were also entries from countries like Thailand and Vietnam. Can't help wondering how these people survive in a place like Harbin... And where did they learn to work with ice and snow..??
Like most places in China that are worth visiting and seeing, the park also included a small 'amusement park', consisting of a buggy concourse, snow slides and the always present Ferris wheel.
We walked around for about two hours, one time diving into one of the little kiosks where we got hugely overcharged for a cup of
hot lemon tea, but at least we were warm again...
Took the bus to the other side, and were welcomed into the 11th Ice Festival by a huge gate all made up of ice blocks. With the sun setting it got very cold very quickly, so after taking pre-dark pictures of all the ice sculptures, we went inside for hot drinks. I had actually bought a small flask of Russian vodka previously in the city, and so was sipping that to keep warm.
There was actually a little 'circus' inside the restaurant, with some wolves and a Siberian tiger, which was performing tricks... a little sad to see that really, but I'm sure the Chinese found it very entertaining...
When dark had finally really settled in, we moved back outside to take pictures of all the beautifully lit buildings of ice. There was one that looked like the famous cathedral in Moscow, one that was based on St. Andrews cathedral in Macau and various other ones. We particularly liked the large Harbin beer bottle...
When it got too cold to even take out the camera out of the bag, and we couldn't feel our noses, fingers, toes any more,
we got into a shared taxi back into the city.
Loved it! If you ever have the chance, it's something not to be missed!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.101s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0654s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Eric
non-member comment
I enjoyed your post. I have always wanted to go to China. My blog is looking for travel photos, stories, accommodation reviews, and food reviews. If you have the time and have some to share, email us at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com or check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric