the Songhua river is solidly frozen and a strong wind is blowing to remind you it is cold, very cold.
the blocks are then cut to the required size by a huge circular saw
red lanterns bungle from icy posts. Inside you can see the wiring for the illumination
most of the ice sculptures are situated in Zhaolin Park
and yes, Harbin sports a large Mc Donald's
it is minus 25 C and the wind is blowing so you better bundle up to keep warm
in the absence of customers this sled-chair dog takes a quick nap
the Harbin skyline seen from the river
for a few yuan he will take you on a tour over the frozen river
there is a steady supply of large blocks of ice that are harvested from the nearby Songhua river
A small sleepy village until
1898, Harbin became a stop at a major intersection of the Trans Manchurian Railway, connecting Beijing to Vladivostok.
The
railway was managed from Harbin and a large influx of Russians caused a rapid population growth. Presently Harbin is the largest
city in Northeastern China.
In WWII the infamous Japanese Unit 731 under surgeon general Shiro Ishii committed
war crimes here with horrible medical experiments on prisoners.
But after the war the USA granted immunity to the main perpetrators in
exchange for information on biological warfare.
Thanks to the brutally cold winters, Harbin is known as the Ice City and famous
for the annual Light Lantern Festival,
when the town is beautified with illuminated ice sculptures.
In December
2004 we visited Harbin to see the ice sculptures, but found the locals still busy building the icy creations.
Most impressing however
was the weather. At noon we clocked a whopping 25 deg C. Minus that is... Brrrrrrrr!
a friendly girl in the hotel reminds us it's Christmas time
From here, the weather in Beijing seems balmy
dragons on ice
moving all that ice is hard work, but it surely keeps you warm
in the evening we check out some outside shops. Brrrrrr
people seek shelter in makeshift tents with a coal stove. It may increase CO2 levels but heck it keeps you warm
