Guest fountainhall Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 The city of Harbin, some 1,000 kms north-east of Beijing, is not on most travellers’ radar. If they have even heard of it, it’s likely to be partly because it has a heavy Russian influence, largely as a result of the large number of White Russian émigrés who fled and settled here after the Russian Revolution. More likely, it will be because the city has more recently boasted one of the great Ice Sculpture Festivals in Asia, the other being in Sapporo in Japan. Flying into Beijing three days ago, the zero temperature seemed less of a shock after Bangkok’s 34 degrees on Sunday than the drop from zero to the minus 16 as I stepped off the plane yesterday afternoon in Harbin. And that, mind you, was the early afternoon temperature. Here it drops to minus 25 or more overnight, especially if it has been as clear a day as today. But then I knew what I was coming into as I had been planning the trip for several months. Given the Festival’s popularity and its proximity this year to lunar New Year, flights and hotels are understandably packed. I opted to make my own plans to use up some air miles. But for anyone wanting to come here from Bangkok or another Asian city, it would make much more sense to book a package including, flights, hotels, local transportation and entrance to the Ice parks. Unlike Sapporo where the Festival is held mostly on one very long boulevard, here it is confined to two areas on the opposite side of the very wide river. As I have discovered, taxis are hard to come by and meters mean nothing. Basically, it’s take it or leave it! And if you are going to the Ice Park at night, you’ll have to negotiate an all-in rate with the driver because there is no guarantee you’ll pick up one to get you back. An all-in tour would be cheaper and much more hassle-free. But I am glad I came, for this is one of the experiences it’s hard to get elsewhere. I’ve not been to the Sapporo Festival, but I expect it is slightly less ‘tacky’ than Harbin – ‘tacky’ in the sense that there are sponsors' logos and sculpted bottles of Coca Cola and the local beer on display, and the lighting in the evening is somewhat garish. With quite a number of visitors to Thailand from the USA, taking Air China, it’s a pity that Harbin is not a natural stop-over side-trip. It would be hard to justify packing thermal underwear, thick sweaters and heavy jackets and boots when all that gear is going to lie unused in Thailand. But for those based in the region, it is both an interesting city and a fun Festival. (I have posted this in the Beer Bar as there is no gay content, alas! It's a great shame that the Universities take their long holiday at this time of year. I had two students from fridae very keen to meet up, but they have gone home to their provinces for the New Year festivities ) Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 Oh, wow! Fountainhall, these photographs are beautiful! You have outdone yourself again. You always seem to know where to go and are everyman's tour guide supreme! Might I suggest I carry your bags on your next trip? Especially your camera bag since that seems to be among your many talents. You should team up with Z for an ice and sand sculpture extravaganza. The detail in these icy monuments looks impressive. They look like buildings from another world, as in planet Krypton and/or the Fortress of Solitude. I like the Disneyesque figures in one photo which begs for an explanation-- as they seem so out of place. Especially the guy in green with his "head" off. You could get fired for that at Disneyland. No doubt these characters were taken from a Festival theme. But the contrast in the background from icy blue to the colors in the costumes makes this pic leap out at you. The night shots are wonderful too, even though they are a bit garish as you say, but you had a good sunny day for picture-taking otherwise-- and I like the day shots best. Do you have more please? Maybe some additional descriptions, too? Are these buildings reproductions of other famous buildings? What is that structure with the red figure in the foreground? It does not appear to be made of ice. Taking a packaged tour seems a very wise suggestion. I shall have to google Harbin now and see where it is on a map. Thanks again for the wonderful post and pictures. Quote
Rogie Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 Excellent report! For those of you viewing the photos, if you click on any of them it will enlarge the photo to full screen, you can then toggle back and forth between them using the 'Prev' or 'Next' keys. Can you go inside any of the sculptures? Any idea how long it would take the sculptors to complete one of them? It would be really interesting to witness one being sculpted - that'd be fascinating if somebody ever took one of those time-lapse sequences to show the various stages. Thaiworthy wrote: I like the Disneyesque figures in one photo which begs for an explanation-- as they seem so out of place. Could they be a tour group having a bit of harmless fun dressing up in colourful animal costumes - would've kept them warm and snug too, although I guess the headless one was taking a breather! Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Might I suggest I carry your bags on your next trip? Especially your camera bag Haha! You are welcome, but if the temperature is as it was last night, the camera feels frozen and it was just too cold to adjust a tripod. The red head is certainly an enigma in that photo, but I did not want to post too many. The first one below with the shop and a couple of tourists perhaps explains why I took it. The cathedral is very 'real' and sits in the centre of the city. It was built by the Russians - hence the onion dome. Even some street names are in both Chinese and Russian! The second and third photos show some more of the Russian influence. And yes, some of the structures are modeled on existing buildings. You might have noticed day and night shots of a Thai temple (but which one has been copied, I have no idea) and the final pic in my first post is part of Beijing’s Forbidden City. 1. Can you go inside any of the sculptures?2. Any idea how long it would take the sculptors to complete one of them? 3. Could they be a tour group having a bit of harmless fun dressing up in colourful animal costumes 1. Yes, you can go into quite a few A lot have slides built into them, and so during the daytime the kids scamper up and just slide down in their coats. 2. Sorry, no idea. From the photos I have seen of Sapporo, it seems as though the exhibits there are indeed sculpted from huge blocks of snow and ice. The ones here seem to be built up in a series of quite small square blocks – a bit like n oversized kids game - which will then be fashioned at appropriate points 3. You don’t see them in my photos, but there are a number of temporary small commercial buildings selling souvenirs, food, drink etc. There is even a KFC, can you believe? Well, it is China! One allows older children to dress up in those colourful costumes so they can get fun photos. I’ve added another pic below (No. 4) Quote
KhorTose Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Great job FH, your do enjoy life. Loved the pictures and will plan a future trip. What is there to do in the town and how big is it. Best place to stay and how early to book. You flew what? Going with my partner ok? Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Thanks KT. Harbin is a city of around 6 million with all the usual traffic chaos. I did not see much apart from spending a lot of time walking around the older part, seeing all the activities on the frozen river (some more pics below - including the latest trend in winter headgear ) and spending a lot of time at the two Ice Parks. The one I attended today is a huge park with a lot of other things to see apart from the snow sculptures. That frankly is more than enough for two full days. There are several western-chain hotels – Shangri-La, Hyatt, Sofitel, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Ibis, Days inn, Best Western etc. I wanted to stay at the Shangri-La, partly to ‘treat myself’ and partly for ease of transport. It is by the river and very close to the bridge over to the parks. However, even though I tried to book at the end of March last year, it was full! So, I booked the Holiday Inn. This is situated at one end of the main pedestrian tourist street and is fine. It’s an older hotel and obviously cheaper, but I am perfectly happy with it. I checked hotelscombined.com just now and see that many hotels in early January 2013 are already booked out. But I’m certain most of these rooms will be allocated to agents, another reason for booking an inclusive tour. You will need to change planes somewhere as you cannot fly non-stop from Bangkok. I wanted stops in Hong Kong and Beijing, and so I used a mileage ticket on Cathay Pacific and Dragonair (a splendid airline which also has a daily Hong Kong/Harbin flight)) as far as Beijing. I spent a couple of days there and then took Air China for the 90-minute flight to Harbin. There are flights to Harbin from most major Chinese cities. Since a visit hardly merits more than three days, you might want also to try to find a tour that will enable you to take in another city you’d like to visit. Quote
TotallyOz Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 I have to say that this thread is fantastic and in the top treads I have read on any message board. FH, you photos are fantastic. I agree with others, you are the epitome of an adventurer. You inspire all of us in so many ways! Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted January 14, 2012 Posted January 14, 2012 But I have an easier time on my travels, Michael, than you did on your bike trips. That is something I could not do! I’m just sorry that on this trip there have been no ‘gay’ adventures to report – yet! But I am now back in Beijing for 3 days, and I just happen to have a couple of assignations over the week-end A short postscript. At breakfast this morning, the coffee shop was jam-packed with a number of tours leaving at the same time. As there was no single table, in my very basic Mandarin I asked a group of three cute young Chinese guys if they would mind my joining them. Sure, said one, in a perfect English accent. He has a drop-dead gorgeous smile and is a tour guide for the China Culture Center in Beijing. He was escorting a 2-day tour made up mostly of foreigners who live in China. I had not heard of this organization before, and after talking to him and seeing the website, I am very impressed as they are more than just a tour organiser. Khortose, you might want to consider them for organizing a tour. http://www.chinacult...nfo/aboutus.php And one last photo. I could not resist taking this as the flight was about to depart at lunchtime. I remember that London’s Heathrow had to close for a couple of days last winter because their equipment could not handle the snow. No doubt they spent millions getting more heavy gear. Maybe they should just hire these guys! Quote
Guest Posted January 14, 2012 Posted January 14, 2012 The photos are amazing, thank you for posting them. Superb ice sculptures & the guy in the guy in the fluffy white ear muffs looks cute too. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 the guy in the fluffy white ear muffs looks cute too. I thought he was adorable. There were several guys when I was there who looked equally gorgeous, but I just could not get the camera focused in time to get their pics, alas. Quote
Guest Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 I thought he was adorable. There were several guys when I was there who looked equally gorgeous, but I just could not get the camera focused in time to get their pics, alas. I have that problem too. Response time will be added to the checklist for my next camera purchase. Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 I have that problem too. Response time will be added to the checklist for my next camera purchase. Edit: Please see Dongtan thread. Quote
Guest Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 I am in the market for a new camera. Z, since you are considering a new camera too, what would you buy today? I don't have an immediate need for a new camera, but ideally the next one would be a higher quality compact that has good image capability, whilst still retaining some zoom. The Canon S100 has just been launched. That has a large sensor for image quality & just about enough zoom range. However, it's getting some mixed early press on image quality. Also, the preceding S95 model gets complaints for lens reliability. So by about November, the S100 should be discounted & I can check customer reports for reliability. As for the Thaiworthy purchase, it must depend on: 1 What you want to use it for (indoor, outdoor, poor light etc) ? 2 What size lump do you want to carry around ? 3 What the budget is ? Some of these just about squeeze into a pocket, yet have good zoom range (similar kind of products to my camera). http://www.dpreview....lzoomgrouptest/ Quote
Rogie Posted February 25, 2012 Posted February 25, 2012 The only thing missing was a bit of music! How about the festival organisers approaching this musician to book him for next year's festival . . . Norwegian musician and composer Terje Isungset uses his background in jazz and Scandinavian music, to create musical instruments from non-traditional materials including ice. Joined by singer, Mari Kvien Brunvoll they create mystical sounds, playing to crowds in northern Finland. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17162066 Quote
