We took an overnight train both there and back to Harbin. Our friend Wun came with us (she also had come with us to Shanghai last June) and made things generally easier since she speaks Chinese. The plan was to take an overnight train and arrive early in the morning in Harbin (about 11 hours on the train from Beijing), then spend the day sightseeing, sleep in the hotel, spend the next day in Harbin, then leave in the evening on the overnight train back to Beijing, arriving in the morning.
Our hotel was decorated very funky but was very warm (KEY!). Including tiles on the floor that heated up… NICE.
We were walking distance from the city center, which has a very famous street called Zhongyang Dajie that has been turned into a pedestrian street. The city of Harbin has been influenced heavily by the Russians since they were commissioned to build a railroad through the city in the late nineteenth century. Many of the buildings from the early twentieth century built by the Russians are still there so the city's architecture is very interesting.
Walking through the pedestrian street there were many snow sculptures, trying to set the mood for the whole season. The main ice and snow festival was outside the city, though.
In the evening, we arrived at the ice and snow festival (the sun went down at like 4pm so we were able to get started fairly early). It had been very hazy during the day but it seemed to clear up a bit in the evening.
Let me describe how we were dressed for the occasion. I was wearing: a tank top, a tight heat-tech ski thermal, a fleece heat-tech sweater, a thick Eddie Bauer industrial fleece jacket, tights, leggings, thick fleece pants, four pairs of socks, heating pads in my shoes, two pairs of gloves, a thick scarf, and a furry hat, PLUS a long down jacket (borrowed from a friend). Inside is so warm that when we were getting dressed, we had to wait to put on our many socks until we were just about to go outside, otherwise we would start sweating. When your feet sweat, they make your socks damp, then your feet freeze outside. It's a very frustrating cycle. So we carried extra socks with us for this reason.
I think we all did a really good job keeping our "core" warm. My body did not feel cold at all; I never got the shivers or anything like that. The only parts of my body that were intermittently cold were my toes, my fingers, and my face.
The ice festival had big ice structures, some were themed to look like famous buildings, some were themed based on pop culture characters, some were themed based obviously on the festival sponsors. The first area we explored was Angry Birds.
This next area was just a big fort, but it also had some slides which ended up being the first slides we went down.
Now that I'm recalling walking up into this ice fort, I remember the effort it took not to slip and fall. The ground was tightly packed snow but if you walked onto the ice structures, the floor was ice. My boots were awful and I needed to hold onto Chris every time we walked on the ice structures. The muscles and energy needed to NOT fall were enough to keep me warm. As it is I did fall one time but it was not so bad.
Here is an ice structure that is modeled after the main church in the city of Harbin. I will include some pictures of it at the end of this post.
Then of course the traditional Chinese architecture had to be represented.
With pagodas…
And a giant ice Buddha…
Ice cars.
Ice bar! Of course Harbin Beer was one of the sponsors. They were giving out free beer in the ice bar.
This was the last picture my camera took, and it was about 45 minutes before we left. We had heard and read that the lithium ion batteries do not last long in the cold so to expect our cameras and phones to die relatively quickly. I was surprised at how long mine lasted. Chris' camera never died, nor did Wun's.
When we got back to the hotel we went out for a late night dinner -- hotpot. Hotpot is big in Harbin in the winter for obvious reasons. It warmed our bellies!! =) If you know me you know that I definitely did not eat this crab but I thought it looked cool.
The next day the weather was clear and we walked around the city again.
The best example of it is the St. Sophia Church. I thought it was beautiful.
After walking around we had dinner with two of Chris's students from CFAU that had graduated last year and are now working at a bank in Harbin. They took us to a famous Dongbei restaurant that serves local cuisine (northeast food). We were able to make our train back at 9pm and arrived in the morning at 8:30am in Beijing.
Our trip to Harbin was a success -- we had such a great time at the ice festival. I think we were all a bit surprised at how much fun we had. I know I felt like a little kid going down those slides. I thought about my niece and how much fun she would have there. I hope to take my kids there one day. If they can brave the cold!! =) In my opinion it was worth it.
Next week we are embarking on our 5+ week trip involving Thailand, Cambodia, Yunnan, Chongqing, Parents, and friends from all over the world. New updates to come...!
