We arrived at 11pm after a nine hour bullet train journey, and the cold (-20°C) night air hit us like a slap in the face. We jumped in a taxi to our hostel where we were told that Hostelworld had overbooked the accommodation and there were no rooms available. It was midnight, we were in the coldest city on earth (not actually), and it was peak tourist season. I was nervous. Eventually they offered us one night in a dorm and two nights in some tents. On confirmation that the tents were indoors, we accepted.
On our first day we walked along the old street and visited the ice 'fun park' which is built on top of the frozen Songhua River. Along the street there are many ice sculptures which light up at night. At the fun park there were ice slides, skating rinks and a whole lot more.
In the afternoon we had a quick look at St. Sofia's Church, the largest Eastern Orthodox Church in the Far East, before heading to the Harbin ice bar for a beer. I don't know what I was expecting but it was super cold in the ice bar. To warm ourselves up we went for a great meal at a nearby Russian restaurant. There is a big Russian influence in Harbin due to its close proximity to the border. We were even approached by Russian tourists who then spoke to us in their mother tongue which was fun. I guess I could be Russian.
The second day was all about the Ice Festival. Not really too much I can say about this place other than that it was very beautiful and extremely cold! Everything you can see in the pictures (pretty much) is made out of blocks of ice. Lights are placed inside the ice to give them that magical glowing quality. Anyway, less chat, more photos. Oh and look out for Sarah getting clobbered on the ice slide.
On our last day we explored the city a bit more, walked across the frozen river and had a quick skate on the ice rink before jumping on an overnight sleeper train that would take us back to Tianjin. There we would drop off our bulky clothes before heading south. Next stop, Nanjing.
