Harbin (the coldest place on earth)

So after a long holiday break back in the states, I have returned to the mother land. After an over night stay at the over-priced (but with a fantastic breakfast) Pudong Radisson, I flew to what I will now know as the coldest place on earth.

As I flew in, I started to think twice about the plan...

After finding a hotel near the only publicized ice festival actually IN Harbin, I unloaded, then took a walk to Zhaolin park. This is the smaller of the local ice festivals according to my cab driver. I paid to get in, and spent about an hour walking around…then gave up because I almost lost my digits to the cold. I think it was ~-20 C and based on the way they were sticking, I think my top and bottom eyelashes were freezing together.

I dedicated the first half of the next day to buying warmer clothes. Sparing you the storyline, this is what I ended up wearing the rest of the time in Harbin.

Bottom half:
Boxers
Long silk underwear
Sweat pants
Shell pants
3 pairs of socks
shoes

Top Half:
t-shirt
long silk underwear
fleece
jacketwind-breaker shell jacket (with hood)
beanie
this baby blue scarf thingie that I wrap around my face
2 pairs of gloves (ski gloves on outside, knit gloves on inside...they were girl gloves)

Even then, I was only good for ~3 hours, then my toes and fingers started to hurt.

Note: don’t be here when all the filth on the ground starts to thaw…

Zhaolin Park

So now I was equipped to go back to Zhaolin park and take these pictures. The structures here were cool, and so were the representation of the animal signs (see the picture of the dog warrior guy);

I think these are real fish!

However, the really cool thing was what seemed to be an international competition where teams from some of the colder countries (...and Malasia?) came to pay the billz… with their ice carving skillz.

Part of the competition scene

One thing that I think all of these and the following pictures lacks, is a scale. Just know that most of these are bigger than you would think, maybe 8-10 feet tall. Try to look at the surrounding people and trees to get an idea.

This guy is life sized, or larger.

Ice and Snow Festival

The next day, I went to the Ice and Snow Festival (could be known as Liability Land). This was the big one…the mother load...the one with the giant snow sculptures and ice buildings (and icy steps, hence the liability. Check the pictures)

I made the mistake of going at like 1:00….which meant that I had to hang around till it got dark and they turn on the lights. You couldnt really sit down either other than in little over price restaraunts because where do you sit? on a block of ice? your butt would get very wet and cold. It was a long day, but worth it. I kept telling myself (and my body) “This is why I’m here...”

Turns out my waiting paid off, but I nearly lost my toes.

Left View
Middle View

Right View

You could rent these modified little bikes and peddle around an ice patch.

One of many slides. The stairs to get to the top of this slide were way too melted and dangerous...so I didnt go on this one.

At the bottom your legs get flipped up in the air when you hit a pile of snow.

Everyone loves before and after pics:

This is an ice maze.

You know how sometimes you find weird and interesting things where you don’t expect them?

That’s a bear walking on his hands.

That’s a bear riding a bike in a circle

That’s a bear indo-boarding better than I can…and shes in a bikini.

Got to give a tribute to the workers.

Up at the top of this (see the white tower?), you can see a nice view of the whole place

Sun Island Park

The next day I decided to wander around the Sun Island park. The day before, I was "conned" into taking a horse drawn coach across the frozen river to what they told me was the location of the Ice and Snow Festival. When they dropped me off in a location that I knew was NOT the ice and snow festival, I noticed that I was on a surprisingly peaceful island, with a heavy Russian influence. I said to myself, "I think I'll definately come back tomorrow." and I did.

As I walked around, I followed the maps to what looked like a cool location (no pun intended), and found that I had to buy a ticket for 100 kuai (about a third of the price of one night in my hotel room). I decided to do it. My advice to you: If someone offers to sell you a 100 dollar ticket to "who knows where", I say take it. I’m glad I did. And because I took it, I chanced upon the Snow Sculpture Festival which was absolutely fantastic.

Check the scale on that guy

One of the things I think is amazing is how they get the snow to hang like that

Again, check out the scale on the cliffs

Check the scale against the "slippery when wet sign" (its for the liability.)

There is something subtle about this place….

...and then not so subtle

At first I thought this face was cool, but then I thought it was really cool when I saw it from both angles

There is so much going on in this one, it boggles the mind.

New food discoveries: I bought “potatoe flavored” potatoe chips…I thought it meant they were plain…but to my dismay, I found that they actually had this yellowish powder, which I only assume is potatoe flavor. I ate them all, but was disgusted with myself.

Also, on a quick trip to walmart (which again, I'm alittle disgusted with myself), I bought on impulse a red bag of cheetos. I thought they were the hot and firey "good" flavor…again to my dismay, I found it later to be beef. That also boggles the mind. I only ate half the bag

On a positive note, a nice discovery was a kabob of little candied apples (dates actually). They are fantastic and I eat some everyday; however, I am constantly cautious that they may be filthy, or that bugs are either inside the fruit or trapped in the crispy tasty candy shell outside. So good.

The end of a nice day

The Road to The Temple of Heavenly Light

I decided to walk to Confucius' temple and the Temple of Heavenly Light (how could I resist with a name like that?) It was approximately a 3 mile trek through one of the busiest streets in town and a snap back to reality. It may have been one the filthier places I have been in my life. Things here were starting to thaw, and there was this black sludge that was a mix of the soot from coal that everyone burns for heat…and other puddles of…stuff. The buildings had soot all over them, and everywhere you went, you hear “hooockkk” because people are congested from the coal furnaces that exhale onto the sidewalk, or the abundance of cars that are unregulated and driving dangerously close to the sidewalk. Its amazing that the hideously unhealthy, and the beautifully pristine are separated by only a couple miles.

The cars are coming from both sides. Yikes! Hug the pole!

Speaking of the beautifully pristine, my hotel was very close to the river, which was frozen solid. All day, everyday they would hold a festival. And everyday, I spent the remainder of the time which was not devoted to ice and snow sculptures at the festival. There was music, ice slides, ice skating, craig taking baby steps across the ice, cheap food from a cart and enslaved animals. I got suckered twice into riding this horse drawn carriage around the frozen river to two different places...dont ask. While freezing on the cart, I couldnt help but wonder if the horses were happy. I'm not a horse guy and the drivers said they were ok...but they look cold to me.

...but these guys look ok I think.

To end on a positive note, if you haven’t already had enough cheesy pictures of low lit landscapes and sculptures, here are afew more of my favorites.

I dont know if you can tell from previous two pictures, but both the dragon and the Native Americans (which I thought was peculiar to be in China) are ginormous.

The sick thing is that every year, all three of these places have different sculptures and buildings, which basically makes it a different festival, so every year you might say, "I wonder whats in Harbin this year."