Explore a China many have not seen
Enjoying some of the activities at the Ice Festival
My very first trip to Harbin in 1985
Sunset at Ice Festival
One of the churches on “Church Street”
Sun Island 太阳岛
St Sophia Cathedral 聖索菲亞教堂
Friendship Park 友谊公园
Russian influence on architecture
Central Street 中央大街
Harbin: A place for drying fishing nets
Harbin, whose name was originally a Manchu word meaning "a place for drying fishing nets", grew from a small rural settlement on the Songhua River to become one of the largest cities in Northeast China. With its bitterly cold winters, Harbin is heralded as the Ice City (冰城) for its well-known winter tourism and recreations.Harbin is notable for its ice sculpture festival in the winter.
My first visit to Harbin was Christmas 1985 to visit my closest friends, Tom & Diane, who were teaching English there at that time. My second visit was very special. It was for our honeymoon in January 1987. We did the Northeast China tour. Didn't have much money or time so we didn't visit many places. We did see the world renown ice festival. One of our funniest stories was when we were looking for a hotel, we entered one that looked quite nice. As soon as we entered, we turned around and left. The reason was that above the front desk the sign said “Deception Desk”. We probably couldn't have afford it anyway.
Explore Harbin 探索哈尔滨
1st visit in 1985 &
Present Day Church Street
My visit in 1985 was not to see the sights but to visit my dear friends Tom & Diane. It was over a weekend. Little did I know that I would be walking in front of that church 30 years later.
2014 Ice Sculpture Daytime
We wanted to see the Ice Sculpture during the day as well as at night. So we got there after lunch and spent the day. We were able to do some of the activities. It was the 50th year of the festival.
Sunset at Ice Sculpture
We were away from the sculpture area enjoying the various activities that were offered when the sun began to set. The haze made the sunset that much more beautiful.
2014 Night Ice Sculpture
If you only have a few hours to visit the ice festival, you must come at night. It is truly shines in all its glory!
Russian Influence
A great number of Russian, Baroque and Byzantine styles buildings are still in use due to special history and geographical location.
St Sophia Cathedral & Square
St. Sophia Cathedral is the largest Nicolas Church in the Far East area. Originally built in 1907 by the Infantry Division of the tsarist in eastern Siberia. St. Sophia is a typical architecture of Byzantine as well as the most intact one of the style in China.
3rd Visit to the Ice Festival
When we planned a trip to retrace our honeymoon trip to the Northeast, we wanted to visit the Ice Festival again. Each year the festival has a different theme and I also wanted to capture some more sunset photos. Read the photo caption to find out what happened.
Sun Island 太阳岛
During our 2014 visit to Harbin, it was rather late in the season to see the best of the Ice and Snow Sculpture. By that time, most of the sculptures covered with haze and dirt from the road. We visited Sun Island to see the aquarium and the Beluga show. We had never seen a beluga before.