Ice Buildings and Park in Ice City

  Harbin, China
Monday, February 4, 2008

Day Twenty-three - Harbin, or Haerbin's Pleasant; Fingers Frozen
The hotel rooms here in the Jinjiang Inn are warm, clean, OK, but pricey to go with it. I discovered how to open the window to reduce the heat. Up on the thirteenth floor you get a rooftop view of the city: tall buildings, dome-like fanciful sculpting, and dry and sunny;Left aligned photo tag:

Fancy Rooftop Architure, a first feel

much better than the slushy wet conditions of Shanghai which leave you chilled to the bone.
I checked in for another night. Found my way to the Zhaolin Gongyuan (park) where the ice festival is currently displayed. Decided to visit later. Much more impressive lit-up.
I made my way to the Songhua River; quite wide, ambling, open, and frozen. A year or two ago, it was the center of a pollution scare. Some toxic waste from an incinerator found its way into the river. People here had their water turned off. Today it was the center of amblers, tobogganers, and others milling around.Right aligned photo tag:

Trippers on the Frozen Songhua

Horses and carriages were also standing in wait ready to take any would-be goer on a small river excursion. Quite novel. The rest was open to narrow sleigh rides. Most of the apparatus was made of ice, of course.
Dumpy women were out trying to flog woolen chin and mouth protectors form the bitter cold, and ear muffs. Once I indicated my refusal, they turned their backs -  so amusing.
The ice sculptures were interesting to say the least: from cars, animals, figures, to others promoting the Olympics. There is even a bar made of ice, 'The Russian Bar,' on Zhongyang Dajie. I went in to have a snoop. Benches and tables had been fully engraved, and a figure in the shape of a boar was attached to one.
"What would you like?" an assistant behind the bar asked.
"Actually, I've only come in to have a look. It's all very curious."
"We have coffee. Very cheap. Only thirty Yuan."
I refused and left the place. But very interesting. All the way down the street, buildings were predominantly Russian indicating its dominant past, although one or two had obviously known better days. There is also a church built after the Russian design called the Church of St Sophia. It had obviously known better days, too, although is fully intact; Right aligned photo tag:

Front of Church of St Sophia

frescoes and all. It seems to be used as an art museum, although I couldn't get a look in.
If it wasn't for the Russian influence, very much preserved, remarkable lit-up architecture for their columns and windows, and of course the ice sculptures, Harbin would be very much run-down, but as is usual in China, big modern buildings are springing up everywhere, turfing out the old.
I made my way to the train station to enquire about a ticket back to Chongqing. I passed some street sellers dormant, moving around, and shivering in the cold selling porn DVDs and other more practical items.
Here goes! The ticket hall was just what I expected: queues full; people congregating rather than queuing at ticket kiosks; no English language explanation; no tickets for at least until another week. What should I do?
I went back to the hotel and booked another flight. After a hectic 'discourse' with a worker from a booking office around the corner, fished out the money and headed for the lantern ice festival in Zhaolin Park,Left aligned photo tag:

Ice Festival Entrance

almost getting knocked over in the process. The road outside was very busy.
It was very impressive, I have to admit, and worth the effort to get up here to see in this part of China.
Blocks were sculpted and blocked in place to form palaces - Chinese-style - walls and other buildings had strip lights embedded. There were more exquisite shapes, such as angels, eagles defeating serpents, one entitled 'grace' and other imaginings all-over. They were crafted skilfully and carefully put together. If you want to see ice, and ice in the making, then Harbin's the place to come. Sadly, though, there doesn't seem much else to attract the attention apart from this, the marvel of the church of St Sophia, and a few temples.  Hurry and see it before it's discontinued, otherwise it'll all melt.
Meanwhile, my fingers were frozen taking picks. I spent a while milling around getting them warm. The thaw-out was not pleasant.
Nevertheless, despite the cold, Harbin's drier, sunnier, has a pleasant climate and is an anti-climax from Shanghai. But a return to quieter, more modest places, is welcoming, if any really do exist in China.