Happy New Year at the Harbin Ice Festival!

Years ago, I bought the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die on the advice of my daughter, Carissa.  Steadily, I have crossed places off my bucket list from this book.  I also am an armchair traveler from The Travel Channel, to National Geographic, to House Hunters International.  Some time ago, I saw an episode on Harbin, China, and I was captivated.  It first caught my attention because the Trans-Siberian Railway begins in Harbin. Some day, I hope to ride the rail all the way to Moscow. That one is still on my list ;)

Harbin is a city that has undergone many changes in the last hundred years or so, as it was occupied repeatedly by the Soviets and then the Japanese.  After WWII, The Chinese Communists took over Harbin once and for all in 1946. Clearly though, the Russian influence still permeates the culture, which is the biggest reason I wanted to go to see Harbin.  I loved the idea of getting close to the culture of Russia, and I have seen television programs about the annual Ice Festival that is held in Harbin.  If you'd like to see an episode of the Hutchens' Brothers in Harbin, check it out: Harbin on Ice  Many of the places we visited are featured on this program, and they give an interesting history of the city, too.

Well, those of y'all who know me well, you know how much I HATE TO BE COLD.  Being cold will take me from zero to pi**ed off in no time flat- that's what being cold does to me.  So, to go from Christmas at Sanya Beach, South China, to spending New Year's in Harbin, North China, was just plain crazy talk!  It was only about an 85 degree differential.  Seriously, though, you've seen how my fingers turn white simply by walking through the grocery store.  I had to be nuts to subject myself to the bitter Siberian cold.  Well, I was in good company, as there were 10 of us who decided to brave it!  We came home from the Christmas holiday on Saturday night, December 27th.  We then taught school Sunday through Weds., and took off immediately after school on Weds., New Year's Eve, for the airport once again.  I went from beach clothes and flip flops to wearing every warm thing I own in a matter of days.

New Year's Eve day at school was a festival of some sort, in which the teachers were asked to dress up and parade around like celebrities.  It's the Chinese Way.  I don't get it, but I wasn't about to dress up in the bunny costume that was left for me in our office.  Instead, I made a quick appearance, and then excused myself to go grade the stack of papers that had piled on my desk from the Christmas holiday.

Thankfully, it was a blue sky morning, and not too
terribly cold for the festival.  It was a carnival-like atmosphere,
complete with rides, games, and a blow up obstacle course. :)

So the morning consisted of about two hours of the staff parading around, getting pulled every direction by random students
and parents to get their picture taken.  It was nuts out on the soccer field.  When they made all the staff take the stage to
hop around to some terrible Chinese techno dance party music, I put my head down and made my great escape!

Here's my Best Man on the Ground in China, my office mate, Edwin :)

As soon as we got the OK to leave school that afternoon, we had a 15 passenger van waiting for us at the West Gate to take us to the Peking Airport.  We had a plane to catch, and plans to bring in the New Year in Harbin. It was an easy, two hour direct flight.

Now, before the trip, I bought all the warm layers I could find in Beijing...wool scarf, wool sweater, long down coat with a hood, warm hat, double mittens, heat tech underoos (Japanese technology long underwear- they are THE BOMB!), ski pants, and all the charcoal hand and foot warmers I could find.  I layered up as best I could for flying comfortably, and the rest was crammed in my backpack- Have backpack, will travel!  We were all dying at school that day as we watched the temperature steadily dropping up in Harbin.  It looked to be about -15 degrees by the time we were to land at 8:00pm that night.  I was hoping that if it warmed to the teens later in the week, I could get a half day of skiing in, or maybe make a visit to the Siberian Tiger Sanctuary.  My plan of attack was to dodge outside for about fifteen minutes at best, snap a few pictures, then dive in to the nearest pub or coffee shop to thaw out.  That was my plan, anyhow....

You know it must be cold in Harbin, when you step out of the airplane gate and
you see changing rooms in the hallways before you can find a bathroom or
 get to baggage claim.   Yep, it's THAT cold!

On our drive from the airport, we caught our first glimpses of some ice and snow
sculptures- I was so excited :)  We made the taxi driver stop for some pics.

It was so cool that the first ice sculpture was of music notes, so I
had to take Rob's picture.  He's our Music teacher from NYC.

THIS IS MADE OUT OF SNOW!!!!

OMG, LOOK AT THE CHINESE DRAGON!!!   IT'S HUGE!!!

LOOK AT THE DETAILS!!!  THIS IS MADE OF SNOW, Y'ALL!!!

This was the 'Welcome to Harbin' snow sculpture, announcing the 27th Annual Harbin Ice & Snow Festival.  Wowzer.

This gives you an idea how BIG these snow sculptures are; we look wee little!

We checked in to our hotel (it was awesome!), dropped our bags,
layered up some more, and headed out to bring in the New Year.
It was only -14 degrees, and we were just a two block walk to
the cobblestone pedestrian street where all the action was.  I loved
the architecture- I felt like I was in a European city  :)
I found out later why the city seemed both Russian and French-
the city was actually laid out like Paris, France, in 1898.

Our first steps on to the pedestrian street, and these were
the tables and chairs set up for outdoor dining.  Already
my toes were numb.  I needed to get inside quickly.
It was so cold; it hurt to breathe :/

We couldn't help but snap a few pics while we searched for
a pub to bring in the new year.  After taking my hands out
of the double pairs of mittens to snap these two pics, my
fingers were numb, too.  I was bordering on the kind of cold
that makes me angry.  Very angry.

Ali and Jeanette, seriously, I have to go inside.
Somewhere.  Anywhere.  I don't even care.
Stop trying to lick the ice!

We found a pub, and we had less than fifteen minutes to ring in the New Year.

Carlos had the countdown on his iPhone!

Happy New Year!
(I have no idea who the random Chinese people are in the picture, lol).

Hearing the two different versions of  the "how Eric proposed and we got
married" story was hysterical!  The look on both their faces says it all :)

We went to another club that had been recommended
to us by our colleagues who went to Harbin last year.
I nearly froze to death again as we wandered the streets
at 1:00am trying to find the place.  It didn't take long
for me to thaw out and work up a sweat dancing, though!

I met a new Chinese friend and they invited me to their table
for snacks, and taught me how to play Chinese poker.
This is the game I always see the old folks playing on the
 stoop of Walmart.  It's a fast game of slamming cards down!

Everybody was having a good time dancing.

I seldom left the dance floor :)  Boy, was I sore the next day!

We stayed and closed the place down at 3:30am,
then it was time to bundle up and head back out
into the Arctic Tundra...only -19 below.  Unreal.

I snapped this photo on our way back to the hotel.  I've
told you before, EVERYBODY has a job in China.
There were no snow plows or salt trucks to be seen.
Instead, there are crews of workers, around the clock,
who scrape the sidewalks and streets by hand with a six
inch metal blade.  It's somebody else's job to shovel the
ice chippings into a wagon to be hauled away to the river.
Everywhere we went, for three days, there were men-
and some women- whose job was to scrape and shovel ice.
I WOULD STRAIGHT UP FREEZE TO DEATH AND DIE!

Needless to say we were all moving pretty slow the
next day, and we finally ventured out to the town
square by mid-afternoon.  It was a beautiful blue sky
day, and a balmy -10 degrees.

The town square is the sight of the famous St. Sophia
Russian Orthodox Cathedral.  

It's a beautiful cathedral that was built in 1907,
 after the railway was completed.

Every city I have traveled to, all over the world, always
requires stopping at cathedrals and churches.  It's 'my thing'.

Gorgeous, eh?

It was nearly as pretty as this bride and groom getting their
pictures taken on the church steps.  With her bare skin
exposed- teeth not chattering- and still smiling!  How???
Everywhere I looked, I saw mother's and children
holding bare hands, people without hats or scarves,
even silly people eating ice cream cones.  I was
numb in four layers with double mittens, double
socks, and warmers stuck all over my fool self.
These Harbin people are made of hearty stock!
I shivered just watching them pose for pictures.

These old gals were bundled up, selling baked
sweet potatoes, from their metal drum filled with coals.
That's a hard way to make a living, if you ask me.

We walked about the city that afternoon, taking in the sights... In the sun,
 it actually warmed into the single digits :)

Warm enough for this old guy to practice his tai chi...

and warm enough for the workers to keep scraping and shoveling ice.

We saw lots of beautiful ice sculptures all over the city.

...and some sculptures just under construction.

Now I know where the Coca Cola polar bear lives :)

By late afternoon, we hit double digits!

We found an old Jewish synagogue to pay homage to
Eric's lineage.  Many persecuted Jews fled to Harbin
leading up to and during the World War.  Prior to that,
with the completion of the railway, Harbin was already an
ethnic melting pot. Early in the 1900's, 53 nationalities
and 45 languages were spoken in Harbin, whose population
was under 100,000.  History suggests that back then only 11%
of it's residents were born in Harbin.  It's hard to believe this
city of 10 million rose from a little fishing village in 1898.

We ducked in to a restaurant to thaw out once again and to get fortified
for the evening Ice Festival. The sun was about to set, and already
the temperature was dropping.  Oh dear :/  We covered ourselves in
fresh hand warmers and foot warmers, and hailed taxi's to the festival.

Jeanette and I are ready- we think!!!

THIS WAS THE ENTRANCE TO THE HARBIN ICE & SNOW WORLD-OMG!I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!!!

Our first stop was the Ice Castle, as big as a castle, all made of ice :)))

The view looking up, as we walked in the castle :)

Nothing like walking up and down an ice staircase with no hand rail to hold on to- not even an ice one :)

The views from up top were amazing!

When we got back down we had to have a closer look at the rams snow sculpture.
This year is the 'year of the sheep' for the Chinese New Year.  Unbelievable details.

Is this the House of Parliament and Big Ben in London?!

I've seen Big Buddhas, Golden Buddhas, Buddhas for every day of the week,
Buddhas on mountain tops, and now a SNOW BUDDHA!

OMG, though, we got caught up in the excitement and were outside for far too long- we had to find a warm spot to thaw out!  My everything was numb- it was actually getting had to talk- I'm not making this up, people.  Now I know why none of the veteran teachers wanted to make the trip with us newbies...they'd already been there, done that!

Thankfully, there were little warming huts set up all over the place :)

What's this on the menu, warm Coke?!

Yes, please!  It was surprisingly delicious :)  They put ginger and
other spices in it- kind of reminded me of hot mulled apple cider-
only different.

Our cameras and phones were also freezing in the below
zero temperatures.  If nothing else, we had to thaw
them out!  Here Jeanette was demonstrating the
fine art of selecting the camera feature on her iPhone
without having to remove her gloves, lol.
Ummm, it really works :)

Suited up and ready for more :)

Kirsten fared better than I did; she's from Wisconsin!

Jeanette hung in there okay, too :)

But Alejandra, our little Honduran friend, was a popsicle!
She and I bowed out after the second round of hot
Cokes- we stayed inside while the others made the last
final go around  :/

 

I love Rob jammin' on the ice piano- he even took his gloves off!!!

This must be some other Chinese tradition- the 

ringing of a bell has something to do with removing worries.

I have seen this done at several temples I have visited, too.

The Harbin Ice Festival would not be complete without an ice display of Harbin beer :)
It was a beautiful night, and so worth the 300rmb admission (that's $50USD).
But I have to say, I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO COLD IN MY LIFE.
A hot shower and bed never felt so good.

After venturing out the next morning in search of a decent cup of coffee,
 I finked out and returned to the hotel while the others went down to the river
for more fun.  Being so cold just wasn't fun for me anymore. So it was a 'no'
to snow skiing; and 'no' to the Siberian Tiger Sanctuary, too.  I was also out of
hand and foot warmers, so I went to the room and worked on lesson plans and
 took a nice long nap :)  I don't know what the billowing black smoke was about.

I was happy for Jeanette; she got to hold an arctic fox!

Ray and Kathy, our Canadian friends didn't seem to mind the cold at all :)

The next trip will be to return to see family and friends in the United States 

over our month of February holiday.  The countdown is on...

22 days, 14 hours, 17 minutes...

Not that I'm counting :)

G'nite, y'all!