Harbin: Ice sculptures

Harbin is definitely colder than Shenyang.
After experiencing the true cold of this wonderful ice city, I won't be able to complain ever again. At least I don't live here full time.

Last night was pretty straightforward, after the plane ride to Harbin, I found one of the CCC tour guides, Andy, at the arrival gates with his coworker Shanika (both Chinese). They said I was the first to arrive; a group coming from Shanghai was arriving shortly thereafter. The group came in all at once and they were very friendly. I introduced myself as the lone representative from Shenyang and they instantly took me into their group. My tour group actually didn't arrive until this morning, from Beijing via sleeper train, and they arrived much later than scheduled. After departing the airport, it was a 30-minute ride to the hotel, when I met the group and took in the sights.

There are ice sculptures everywhere here. If there is a traffic circle, there's an ice tower. If there's an overpass, there are ice columns. If there's wide highways, there are ice guardrails. Ice everywhere!

We got to our rooms after midnight, and a short birthday celebration for one of our group members. My friend from Beijing didn't arrive until about 11am today, so I had the room to myself for the night. No matter though, since I passed right out as soon as I laid down.

I met up with a family of four from Shanghai at breakfast and took a stroll by myself along the Central Ave. It's styled after the Russian architecture, complete with cobblestones and parapets on the buildings. They had an ice sculpture about every 50 yards. Even a Philly LOVE statue. It's internationally known!

The Beijing group was running very late, so when I returned from my stroll, I spoke with Andy to see if he had any updates. Since his group was ready to go and so was I, he invited me along to join them for the morning. A perfect plan, since we were going to meet up for lunch with the other group at the dumpling restaurant. Off we went!

We stopped at a number of sites: the old market street, a large mosque and market, and drove by the frozen river. Once we got to the St. Sophia's church, I had added my snow pants and took out my handwarmers. So essential, especially for the toes of my boots. The church was definitely Russian-style and it was very impressive. After taking a bunch of pictures, I was ready for lunch. My camera's battery was dying (the cold zaps their lifespan; even a fully-charged battery will only last 15 minutes max) and the group was frozen solid. To the dumpling house we strode!

After gorging ourselves with a bunch of dumpling varieties, the Beijing group finally arrived! I met up with my OMS classmate and I joined the Beijing group for good. As the Shanghai group departed for the ice river diving show, I thanked them for welcoming me into their group. The Beijingers ate hungrily and I chatted with them while catching up with my friend. Good times. Following lunch we stopped back at the hotel for a quick rest 休息休息 and prepped for the evening's excursion to the ice sculpture park. Where, naturally, there were more ice sculptures!