One of the best places to go in winter is this city--Harbin, which is titled the Ice City of China. It is the capital of Heilongjiang province and the second biggest city after Chongqing, however for us, it's just a really nice place to have fun especially in winter days for its yearly Ice Lantern Art Fair as well as a big festival themed of ice and snow. Maybe just because of the cold weather there, the people of Harbin are so kind and welcomed:p
Things to do
This is a yearly festival of Harbin and every year it shows over 2000 ice lantern works of all kinds of styles and sizes.(To get to know more about it by seeing the images below) It begins from the Christmas day and lasts to the end of February. The place to held this fair is the Zhaolin Park which was built in 1906 and named after the great national hero Li Zhaolin General. Located in the downtown of the city that you can go there by bus or taxi. Admission: about 40 RMB/ Person
Located in the Plaza of Art of Building of Harbin, this church is the landmark building of Harbin. It was first built in 1907 by the russian military, it has been he biggest Orthodox Church in the Far East Area and the most well-preserved Byzantine building of China.
Winter swimming is a common hobby of the northeastern people. If you go there this is just a incredible scenery to see along the riverside of the Songhuajiang River. You can see people especially the old men swimming in the cold river, if you put your hands into the water then you could see how crazy they are... And this is absolutely For FREE!
To go skiing is one of the coolest program in Harbin for its cold weather. This skifield called Longzhu is the nearest one to the central city(about 65 km) which located in the 4A classic scenery zone Erlongshan Mt. About 1200 RMB two persons per day, including the cost of the rent of the clothes, the equipment and a two-hours tutor. They also have puppy ski bobs for childern!
