Harbin: Ice and Snow World

The Ice and Snow World is the main attraction to visit during the Harbin Ice Festival. Roughly 7,000 artists use over 4 million cubic feet of ice to transform Sun Island into a frozen architecture park. Much of the inspiration for the ice and snow sculptures is derived from traditional Chinese fairy tales or world famous architecture. 

For this year's 30th anniversary of the festival, recreations of New York’s Empire State Building, Rome’s Colosseum, Reykjavik’s Hallgrimskirkja Church and the Great Wall of China were all on display.

Each of the buildings are carved from ice using picks, chisels, saws and lasers, resulting in a magical frozen wonderland.

This ice thermometer shows off the negative temperatures we braved to climb (and slide down) the ice castles.

Entrance tickets run 300rmb/person and the best time to visit is after dark. Ask your cab driver to wait for you as finding one after can be a nightmare. It's a common practice and will only cost you an extra 50 rmb on your fare.

Harbin: Songhua River

We spent the afternoon of our second day in Harbin playing on the frozen Songhua River. The river is coated with over 3 feet of ice (~1 meter) in early November and remains this way until April each year.

I'm told the Songhua has more visitors in the winter than the summer. It's hard to argue with this statement when you witness the hundreds of people skating, sliding, and riding dog or horse drawn sleds on the surface. There were even a few brave souls who thought swimming in a carved out pool was a good idea. While I did once go skinny dipping in a lake in January while in college, I thought better of it this time around. And I hadn't consumed nearly as much beer.

There were a few of these cute Arctic foxes that you could pay to hold, but as I am against animal tourism (unless it serves as a rehabilitation or research center), I opted not to cuddle these furry critters.

Walking on the river is free though I'd recommending paying to ride one of the slides near the entrance. It will pop you out among the main action and give you a reason to squeal for a few minutes.

Harbin: Zhaolin Park

After the sun set on our first day, we visited the Lantern Festival at Zhaolin Park. I quite liked this small, peaceful park, but it pales in comparison to the larger Snow and Ice World. If you are in Harbin for only one night, skip this smaller version.

 

Ice lanterns have been used in Harbin for hundreds of years. Originally, they were carved by fishermen to use at night when fishing on Songhua River. They evolved into decorations in front of homes and are now embraced as an art form. Artists from around the world come to carve sculptures out of huge blocks of ice, cut from the local river.

 

 

Entrance to the multiple parks is not cheap. Expect to pay 200 rmb/person after dark at Zhaolin Park. While you can save some money by visiting during the day, you'd also miss out on the lights.

Harbin: Snow Sculpture Art Exposition

Last weekend, Matthew and I ventured to Harbin for the Ice and Snow Festival. It was cold, beautiful, and one of the events I vowed to experience after we moved to China. The festival is made up of several exhibits. I'll feature them each individually over the next few posts, because frankly, I have too many photos for just one.

Our first afternoon in Harbin, we went to Sun Island for the Snow Sculpture Art Exposition. Here, we were greeted by beautiful snow sculptures. Each one was intricately carved and some of them were humongous in size.

One of the only photos where my face is actually showing (it was a balmy -25 F or -31.6 C)

We also climbed to the top of a snow castle. I think you can guess how we got back down.

This last sculpture was insane. I'm the tiny black dot in front of it, attempting to show you the sheer size of this bad boy.

I don't know about you, but this makes the snowmen I created growing up look downright pitiful.

Entrance tickets are 260 RMB per person. It was an additional 30 RMB (or 50 for two people) to ride the slide.