After an eventful evening in Beijing, we flew out to Harbin, north of North Korea, in the morning of January 5th. The previous night we ate at Da Dong restaurant near the Park Plaza (where we were staying). We enjoyed Peking duck and Turtle Hot Pot both of which were interesting dining experiences. On the way back to the Hotel, Toni was hit by an e-bike which came out of nowhere. She is OK, and the cold has pretty much prevented bad swelling.
Our Chef prepares the Peking Duck / The Turtle Hot Pot
Speaking of cold, in Harbin the high today was about –17’C and right now, at 6pm, it is about –22’C or so. We arrived before midday and it took about half an hour to drive via Taxi from the airport. Tonight we are staying in a Horizon class room at the Harbin Shangri-la, we are currently in the lounge relaxing prior to leaving for tonight’s activities.
We started the day having checked into the hotel, and we departed for lunch at a local restaurant recommended by the Horizon Lounge manager. It was a quiet local place and the menu was entirely in Hanzi (no pictures). We were emboldened by our efforts in Beijing, and managed to order what we wanted without any problems.
Local Harbin Specialty / Toni downtown
After lunch we walked to the Zhaoshan Park ice sculpture park, which is also an amusement park. Although the rides were closed, we managed to take a good look at the very impressive ice sculptures on site – there were many! Some were almost like sets, you could walk into some of them (buildings), some were bridges and many were simply sculptures or landscapes.
A great sculpture / Life sized landscapes
There was also a large slide which we both took advantage of. Who says you can’t have a little fun?
Having Fun!
The most impressive sculpture I think was this massive ice pagoda, which towered above the park.
Afterwards, we missed the celebration fireworks (today is the opening of the Ice Festival) but we walked to the riverside anyway. Many people were out on the frozen river, skating or tobogganing or simply sliding around on the ice. We walked out on the ice as well, for the heck of it.
As the sun set, we headed back to the Shangri-la for happy time (complimentary food, beer and wine) as well as to relax ahead of heading out tonight to the Ice Festival across the river. It is open until 10:00pm, although we’re quite unsure of how long we will spend outdoors as the temperature will approach –30’C.
Tomorrow we will continue our journey in Harbin. Check back for more!