Lately, the dog days of summer are really getting to me. Each day brings ridiculous heat topped off by unbearable humidity. Days like these make me think back to cooler temps. Much cooler temps. Temps around -20 degrees. Those were the daily highs when I spent my Christmas holiday in Harbin two years ago.
Harbin is a cold but bustling city in the Dongbei (literally “east north”) region of China, close to the Russian border. From late spring to early autumn, it is mostly a farming community, having the most nutrient-rich soil in all of China, but for the majority of the year, it is a frigid but beautiful metropolis. There is a Russian influence throughout the city from the architecture to the cuisine to the toughness of the people.
Our reason for going up there in the middle of winter, where you can witness the centigrade and Fahrenheit scales meeting at a balmy -40 degrees, was to witness first-hand some of the most beautiful snow and ice sculptures in the world. For the past 57 years, the Harbin Snow and Ice Festival has attracted bundled-up tourists from all over the world to see buildings made of ice and intricate snow sculptures that often stand several stories tall. Words can’t do them justice, so I’ve included some of the best below.
While the sights are certainly breathtaking, it requires an effort to get around and see everything. Despite wearing five layers of clothing, the night is so cold that you can only stay outside for about 30-45 minutes at a time. Scattered throughout the festival grounds are warming tents where you can duck inside, have a beer, and stand next to a fire, or at least an electric heater. In one of the tents, they even had some arctic wolves there to keep you company inside of a cage made of ice.
After our days and nights of walking around in the freezing cold, we were able to find some great Russian and Chinese restaurants, both serving hearty food to warm our bones. We feasted on a Christmas Dinner of twice-cooked pork, tofu, a collection of root vegetables, pork belly, and delicious chicken soup.