Harbin Ice Festival

Its that time of year in Harbin. Residents talk of the biggest tourist attraction throughout the year. Every January to February is the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival. Ice is extracted from the Songhua River in blocks. Holes are drilled in to make room for lights. And the blocks are piled together to take the form of representations of famous castles, churches, buildings, etc.

I had high hopes of attending this year's Ice Lantern Festival in Harbin to take great pictures with my new camera. I took pictures, but I have to say as I was taking them, the last thing I cared about was getting good shots. It was COLD there. Almost too cold to be enjoyable. Here are some of the pictures. Enjoy from the warmth of your home.


The five flags below represent the other countries which also host similar ice festivals (though Chinese people will tell you Harbin's festival is the biggest).


A close-up. I like these colors.

In addition to castles, the festival also incorporates hands-on attractions such as ice slides.


Must be nice to have such a festival in a country where the threat of being sued is absent [People were going down these slides FAST. They slowed down by crashing into piles of snow at the bottom.]

The festival also offered ice bicycles for rent to ride on the ice. I passed on this option.


If you look closely in the middle of this picture, you will see a familiar face. I am on the ground. Unintentionally. Ouch! I'm not sure what hurt more-the impact of tailbone on ice or the cold seeping through my jeans as I waited for my friend Kayte to capture the moment on film.

There were also large structures made entirely out of snow.

And, finally, the evening would not be complete without the opportunity to cuddle with snow foxes.