Merry Christmas! An early morning start to catch the plane and I had some of the stollen bread that my dear friend Tricia and Dan bought me for my birthday! It was delicious. Not like the recipe I grew up with which is a yeast soft bread with candied fruits and nuts inside. This was somewhere between that and a fruitcake. It was yummy and will be good when I’m hungry on the trip.
The flight to Harbin was diverted due to weather and did not arrive on time. I still had enough time to change into multiple layers to visit the Ice Festival. On the way there you could see people on large snow mounds making it into something for the festival. Harbin is close to the Russian border with China.
We arrived at the festival around 3 in the afternoon. The sun sets just after 4 here. So far the weather is not bad. It is cold but tolerable with layers. If course when the sun goes down….
It is negative 16 Celsius. That is around negative 5 F.
It was great to see my friends Amber and Michael on this trip. I haven’t seen them in awhile. A core group of us met and took trips together this summer. Covid-19 wreaked havoc but did give us that.
Some of the ice houses were already starting to light up when we arrived.
We went ice bicycling. It was pretty fun around this frozen track that wound through a building and under a bridge. Hard to move legs in the bulky clothes but once you find a rhythm…
There were some restaurants to stop in and get warm. While we were there the sun went down and the ice buildings were lit up.
This snow sculpture of the Buddha is my favorite of the day. It is enormous.
As the festival officially opened in February, some buildings were still being constructed. Ice from the river is brought in and cut into smaller blocks. It is 1 meter deep there. Lights are put in on the top blocks. It takes a lot of orbison to hand cut all of these blocks.
The shows they usually have are with Russian acrobats. They unfortunately could not come back to China due to covid-19 restrictions. They had finishing and dancing which the audience participated in and warmed us up.
More nighttime pictures. Eventually my phone powered down from the cold but taking my hands out to take pictures left my fingers numb!
Afterwards we removed layers at the hotel and went to a nearby neighborhood for hotpot. Yummy and just what was needed after being in the cold. Finally I drank the Harbin beer manufactured here in the actual city.
This is spectacular! I knew nothing about Harbin. What a fantastic place to visit. I am jealous! I am also surprised to see the Buddha… beautiful! Considering the weather you are accustomed to, this must have been stunningly cold. Good for you for having enough layers. Happy (western) New Year!
I was grateful to spend Christmas in Shanghai with a friend and her son. I soaked up holidays and then remembered why I dunt like the cold in Harbin. It is months of the worst of PA weather.