Harbin (哈尔滨)- 45 degrees North in Minus 20 degrees Celsius
Saturday 11 February - having booked the trip some months ago we thought we better check the validity of the China visa on Friday. Unfortunately although it was good fro two journeys Stuart ahd used them both. Luckily we were early enough to get the passport sent up to Lo Wu and get the visa issued.
Visa intact we set off to catch Hong Kong airlines direct to Harbin at 1055. It is a 5 hour flight as Harbin lies north of Korea and just south of the Russian border. Today it is a city of 3 million people but began as a modern city as a key junction on the China Eastern railway in the early 1900's.
The city has capitalised on its harsh winter climate by establishing an Ice Festival and after a Japanese dinner with Harbin beer and sake we headed to the Ice and Snow World and the illuminated ice sculptures.
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Alex had arranged for a local guide, Lucy, and driver to pick us up from the Sofitel at 1000 and we set off for the highlights of the city.
The city is built on the bank of the Songhua River and we began the day in the old town and the surviving Russian Orthodox Church St Sophia. Although no longer a church it was built by the Russians who occupied this part of China in the early 1900's. In earlier times there were more churches of this type including a wooden one that fell victim to the Cultural Revolution. St Sophia itself has also been stripped of any icons and even its bells and today is a museum showing the history of Harbin.
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From St Sophia we headed to the pedestrianised Centre Street which has a surprising variety of architectural styles reflecting the western influence before the Japanese invasion of the 1930's. The street finishes at the river bank and a heroic piece of communist monumental architecture commemorating the city"s struggle against the river floods.
The river itself is frozen and much entrepreneurial spirit was evident on the ice - from multi coloured candy floss, candied haw apples, bicycle skates, furry hats and much more.
Click here for some pictures of the day
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Lunch was a simple affair of dumplings with various stuffings - a typical staple of the north of China where wheat was traditionally more of a staple than rice.
The next step was the Siberian Tiger Park - a cross between a zoo and a safari park. The start is in a bus through a series of open cages with various families of Siberian Tigers. The tour then takes you on a overhead walkway through a number of Tiger enclosures. However the highlight of this interactive experience is your opportunity to buy a live chicken which you can then feed to the tigers below. For the less well-heeled you can buy a strip of meat which you can dangle from a stick for the tiger to chew on.
Our final stop was the ice sculpture park which was decidedly nippy as at this point the sun was beginning to set.
IMG_3468
HERE IS A SHORT VIDEO WITH SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEKEND - HARBIN HIGHLIGHTS
Visa intact we set off to catch Hong Kong airlines direct to Harbin at 1055. It is a 5 hour flight as Harbin lies north of Korea and just south of the Russian border. Today it is a city of 3 million people but began as a modern city as a key junction on the China Eastern railway in the early 1900's.
The city has capitalised on its harsh winter climate by establishing an Ice Festival and after a Japanese dinner with Harbin beer and sake we headed to the Ice and Snow World and the illuminated ice sculptures.
IMG_3388
Alex had arranged for a local guide, Lucy, and driver to pick us up from the Sofitel at 1000 and we set off for the highlights of the city.
The city is built on the bank of the Songhua River and we began the day in the old town and the surviving Russian Orthodox Church St Sophia. Although no longer a church it was built by the Russians who occupied this part of China in the early 1900's. In earlier times there were more churches of this type including a wooden one that fell victim to the Cultural Revolution. St Sophia itself has also been stripped of any icons and even its bells and today is a museum showing the history of Harbin.
IMG_3413
From St Sophia we headed to the pedestrianised Centre Street which has a surprising variety of architectural styles reflecting the western influence before the Japanese invasion of the 1930's. The street finishes at the river bank and a heroic piece of communist monumental architecture commemorating the city"s struggle against the river floods.
The river itself is frozen and much entrepreneurial spirit was evident on the ice - from multi coloured candy floss, candied haw apples, bicycle skates, furry hats and much more.
Click here for some pictures of the day
IMG_3442
Lunch was a simple affair of dumplings with various stuffings - a typical staple of the north of China where wheat was traditionally more of a staple than rice.
The next step was the Siberian Tiger Park - a cross between a zoo and a safari park. The start is in a bus through a series of open cages with various families of Siberian Tigers. The tour then takes you on a overhead walkway through a number of Tiger enclosures. However the highlight of this interactive experience is your opportunity to buy a live chicken which you can then feed to the tigers below. For the less well-heeled you can buy a strip of meat which you can dangle from a stick for the tiger to chew on.
Our final stop was the ice sculpture park which was decidedly nippy as at this point the sun was beginning to set.
IMG_3468
HERE IS A SHORT VIDEO WITH SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEKEND - HARBIN HIGHLIGHTS
Where is Harbin?