Happy New Year China Style! (January 2018)
HARBIN, CHINA -- Said to be the largest snow and ice festival in the world -- We decided to check it out!
We turned in our grades on December 29 and flew to Harbin on December 30, checked into our hotel, and headed out into the freezing temperatures to see the famous Ice Lantern Show. I don't have too much to say -- the pictures certainly speak for themselves . . .
That cup of VERY hot chocolate (in a manner of speaking . . . this is China, you know -- they don't really know how hot chocolate is supposed to taste -- but bless their Asian hearts, they try!) felt good on my frostbitten fingers. You can see an earlier photo where I don't have a glove on. This was the picture-taking routine -- see a photo op, take off the glove, take out the phone (in an inside coat pocket to keep it from freezing), snap the picture, and HURRY to replace the phone in the pocket and the gloves on the hand. (Yes, I said "gloves" and "hand." I wore two gloves on each hand -- two socks on each foot -- headband and hat on my head.)
Some of the ice sculptures were functional -- many slides with long lines. The largest, clearly most popular, slide was up the hill by the "Great Wall of China" ice sculpture. Hopefully all those people were keeping each other warm . . .
Although we were there a few days before the "official" opening of the festival (scheduled for January 5), it proved to be a bit of a bonus, as we were able to watch much of the ice and snow sculpting in progress.
The next morning, New Years Eve, found us at the Siberian Tiger Breeding Center. The tigers roamed freely, while WE were the ones in cages . . .
Wonder if a person could stay warm huddling with them?
This next sign got me thinking (after spending many years with teenagers) . . . . . do we humans need something like this????
While we were there, Brigg had a chance to feed the tigers some chicken from tongs (you should have seen the chicken stick to the chain link -- think tongue on flagpole as in A Christmas Story.) We also watched (a bit aghast) as a live chicken was dropped down a chute at dinner time. The tigers had a quick fight, but ultimately the "winner" was able to take his prize away in peace. The whole thing reminded me of a basketball player going up for a rebound, coming down swinging his elbows, and standing there protecting the ball while the other players eventually concede and back away (I guess everything has a sports analogy). It was pretty interesting watching the tiger pluck the chicken prior to eating it.
And finally . . . I guess even tigers deserve some privacy . . .
We left the tiger breeding camp and drove to Sun Island, home of the snow sculptures. What fun!! I was sure glad I still had my sunglasses in my purse . . .
There was actually a little "hot drink" place inside that "log cabin."
And I'll bet these next guys were pretty cold . . . .
We were pretty mesmerized watching the crews working on giant snow sculptures -- and there was plenty of outdoor winter fun taking place on the frozen river and on the giant slides. Note that beautiful replica of St. Sophia Cathedral in the background -- carved out of snow, naturally!
We left Sun Island and went back into Harbin, where we saw the real St. Sophia Cathedral and got some dinner. Although we didn't peek inside, I was quite interested in the offer of "heated alcohol around a fireplace" in the golden elephant building. We had been warned to avoid the many Russian bars in Harbin (not that we really needed to be warned . . . . ) because apparently fights often break out. Perhaps that's what is meant by "heated" . . . . . ?
It was getting dark (around 4 p.m.) as we headed down toward the river and the famous Harbin Center Street -- very Russian in architecture, food, and culture. The people were still out on the frozen river playing and lighting lanterns, which they let loose to fly across the sky -- SUCH a magical night!!!
