Our adventure for New Year this year was to travel north to Harbin to see the International Ice and Snow Festival. We flew to Harbin International airport (not very big, think a little bigger than Ogden). It is world famous and we learned why. We had enjoyed a great trip with other teachers from the BYU China Teachers program. It was unseasonably warm but was still well below zero F. We layered up and were glad we had bought ski pants to wear and plenty of hand and foot warmers!
This is the first thing we saw after arriving. This is beautiful Sophia Square. Here is a Russian Orthodox Church that the Red amy took over and burned the interior during the cultural revolution. It was totally covered by walls at one point and made into a pencil factory. It was restored in 1997 when the city decided it would be a great tourist destination and is now a museum. It felt like we were in Russia.
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| The next morning, we went to a cat preserve where we saw many cats primarily tigers as you see. They are well fed, receiving over 45 pounds of meat each day. We were glad to be there in the morning when they are active. We were in the zoo: a caged bus and the animals really roamed free! It was beautiful to see the animals living in large areas in "streaks". Tigers do not live in groups in the wild but they seem to get along well here. |
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| A white tiger, he was beautiful! He also did not appreciate Chris getting too close and let him know as he swatted the fence, hissed and yowled. He was in an enclosure with the only thing separating us being that chain link fencing. I was as close as this picture appears, don't stick your fingers through the fence. |
The residents in Harbin have a way they think is good for keeping fit and thin, they call it "Morning Swimming!" As you can see they cut a hole in the river and swim in the mornings. It was a bout 15 degrees below zero on this chilly morning. WOWSERS!!!!
This is a baby snow fox Chris and I held for pictures! It loved to be cuddled! I wished we could take him home to our grandchildren they would love it!! Of course you make donations for the privilege of holding them. They are cute and cuddly. They know what to do.
This is part of the Snow Sculpture Park we visited. The sculptures are huge; you can get an idea of how large by the people you can see still working on it. They are stories high and just massive as you can see!
This is horses pulling a chariot
This a frozen lake with this big Russian castle and next to it, on the left in this picture you can see, is an ice block castle to show how they do both ice and snow sculptures in this park.
This scene is made out of ice blocks that are about 20 inches long and 12 inches thick. This lake had ice bikes you could rent and ride around on, as well as ice skates.
Penguins of Madagascar and Frozen for the grandkids!!! =)
We are getting cold and the sun is starting to set about -15 degrees!
Then we went to the Ice Park. We climbed about 4 stories of ice stairs to see the landscape of a city made totally of ice blocks, you can see the stairway. The lights are just beginning to be turned on. We were grateful is was 25 degrees warmer this year than last.
The top of the stairs provided a glorious view of the frozen ice city that had been erected in less than 2 months time! Spectacular !!!
Night brought each light of each building to life in majestic color and vibrance! It was such eye candy and truly a feat of building and planning. We rode a horse drawn carriage from one end to other to keep us from turning into one of the ice sculptures!!! Also a stop for hot cocoa really helped to warm us back up. Chris had enough chocolate bars for the group to really help the cocoa taste delightful!!
It was magical and unforgettable. A quick and unforgettable weekend!
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