Harbin Ice Festival, part three

2/6/2015

A few years ago, Ross and I saw some news coverage of an ice festival in China. This winter, we realized that we could go and see this amazing sight for ourselves. Strolling along the charming pedestrian mall in downtown Harbin and enjoying the family fun at the riverbank were unexpected additional pleasures. We came to Harbin to see the "Ice and Snow World" display.

We got all layered up with extra socks and long underwear and caught a ride to the festival grounds from the hotel along with about ten other tourists. Naturally, the best time to see "Ice and Snow World" is at night. Our camera doesn't do it justice, and you can find other pictures on the internet, but here's what we saw:

There were dozens of ice sculptures. The artists can create different sheens on the ice, from cloudy or textured to clean and brilliantly shiny. The colored lights really add to the display.

This is part of a frieze (or is that a freeze -- get it?) of sculptures of China's traditional artisans. But enough stalling, let's get on with the ICE CASTLES!!

The glowing ice buildings against the dark sky were just magical. There was lots of bustle with the happy crowds, but we never felt crowded. Everywhere we turned, we saw another beautiful vista. Ice gates, walls, castles, pagodas, an ice maze -- just wow.

I didn't even mind that the festival organizers played the same tune over and over again, and that's typically something that would grate on my nerves.

Check out the video clip at left.

Here's a railway engine. There were also railway carriages. And here is a cluster of snowy goats, or rams, or sheep, or whatever. Happy New Year.

We took a sleigh ride but the driver was very assertive about stopping the carriage and asking for more money. Hey, it's a tourist town. He took some pictures of us and then we got out.