Рет қаралды 100,860
January 10-11, 2015
timandglo
While we were in northeastern China, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to travel to Harbin for their world famous annual ice and snow festivals! The fast train can get from Shenyang to Harbin in just three hours. We decided to stay just one night because we knew it would be much colder in Harbin. Fortunately, an overnight trip allows plenty of time to see both festivals, which are in locations about 3 km apart.
We were advised to see the snow festival - ironically located at Sun Island - during the day then head over to the ice festival at night. This was sound advice, which we followed. It should be noted that the snow festival is also worth seeing after sundown; it also utilizes mood lighting to highlight the snow sculptures. But we physically could not stay at Sun Island after sunset because there were no warming stations. We tried going indoors for some hot chocolate and instant wontons, but the shops are ad hoc and do not have good heating.
We took a shared taxi to the site of the ice festival. We have never seen so many enormous - castle size - ice sculptures or such a fantastic use of colored lights! No one can do it like the Chinese can.
We should not that the cost of admissions for both festivals was expensive: 240 RMB/person for the snow festival and 300 RMB/person for the ice festival.
If you have some extra time in Harbin, a visit to St. Sofia Church/Cathedral is highly recommended. This is something we missed.
Also, don't forget face masks to protect against pollution and for added warmth. We each wore two layers on the bottom and 3-4 layers on top. If you find yourself short on winter warmies, check out Uniqlo, which sells an excellent range of fleece-lined and heat tech clothing every winter. In addition, we got good use out of hand warmers that our friends gave us. Apparently you can also get toe warmers and even electric socks in China!
Stay warm! And happy travels!!
Thank you for watching!
Music:
So Wrong by Illenium
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Cue by Raym
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