Experiences Abroad: February 2016

People are probably thinking that I turned into a bear and went into a winter hibernation. Up where I live in northern China it definitely has been cold enough to do that. That isn’t the case but instead I have been out seeing what makes Harbin the spot that people from all over want to come visit during the cold winter.

Before sharing what I have seen I want to talk about how cold it actually did get. It is the coldest weather I have ever been in before. The coldest it did drop down to was right around -40. -40 is where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet on the negative side so that was pretty damn cold. That was during a cold snap that went through a lot of northern China and it was only around there for about three days. On average it was warmer than that and actually pretty manageable if you wear the right clothes. Two pants, about three shirts, a double jacket, good gloves, a scarf, something to protect your head, and good socks. Most importantly is a good pair of shoes/ boots. All around Harbin there is ice and so not slipping and falling comes with good shoes and being aware. It has yet to get above freezing since probably November with the temperature today being around -8/-17 Celsius (18/1 Fahrenheit). Temperature is relative because yesterday the temperature is around the same as today and I thought it was nice and didn’t need double pants, a scarf and I did wear less.

Harbin is known as an ice city and that is true because of all the ice just randomly over the place but also for the carving and ice sculptures. These sculptures are placed all over town mainly in the form of buildings and arches. The ice they used for this came from the river that does run through the town and they are big blocks of ice. Technically the ice blocks could tower over me but they did like to cut them into more manageable block sizes.

With so much ice there is a festival known as Harbin International Ice Festival. Since it is in my backyard I did make it there last week and it is pretty impressive. The pictures I will post don’t do justice with how neat it is in person. You are walking up to the entrance and you can see the sculptures towering over the wall. This is simply an area where almost everything is ice and snow sculptures. Plus at night (when I went) there are lights inside the ice to add more effect to the whole thing. The big sculptures were modeled after different buildings from around the world. Also it is an international competition so there were some that were walled off with blocks of ice but you can see over the wall and they have very fine details.

Besides the festival on the river itself there are things going on there as well. This is at the end of the famous walking street (zhongyang da jie) that has a lot of Russian architecture. At the end of this street there is a big monument that is known as the flood control monument. Right here is where a lot of more activities on the river itself happen. You can ice skate, rent snowmobiles, go horseback riding, sled riding, etc.

This winter was pretty fun and neat to live in a cold environment. In a couple days it will be a new year. Spring Festival starts also known as the Chinese New Year. I have already started hearing the fireworks these last couple of nights. I actually will be on a plane in less than twelve hours headed out of China. My destination involves secluded islands and beautiful marine life to explore. I am a scuba diver and I have been out of the water for far too long. End of February I will share this adventure but for now try not to get cold from looking at the winter pictures from northern China. I will write later.