Every time winter comes, we always try to arrange to go to a really cold city to enjoy the winter, because who knows, maybe tomorrow the earth will get hotter and there will be no place to go, right? Just kidding, but if winter were in Saigon, it would not be winter anymore. And although this is the third time I have been to this city, this is the only time I have the opportunity and time to capture beautiful images to introduce to everyone.
A little about Harbin, it is the capital of Heilongjiang province in Northeast China, bordering Russia and very close to Mongolia. Harbin was founded in 1898 with the arrival of the China Eastern Railway, the city initially prospered as a region populated largely by immigrants from the Russian Empire.
Winter here is arguably the coldest among major cities in China, with temperatures dropping to -40°C at their coldest. For this reason, Harbin is nicknamed the Ice City and focuses on developing tourism and winter entertainment activities. The most prominent is the annual Harbin Ice Sculpture Festival. The city was also voted "China's Top Tourist City" by the China National Tourism Administration in 2004.
Honestly, this is not the first place that we Vietnamese think of when traveling, but once you come here, you will feel its wonderful excitement. We have come here 3 times in a row in the past 3 years, and we will definitely come back this winter to enjoy the cold of this place once again.
What to prepare when coming to Harbin?
If you go in the summer, you don’t need much, but if you go in the winter, make sure you pack warm clothes, because the weather is really cold. In our experience, you should always have the following:
1. Uniqlo Heattech thermal clothing, or any brand. Lots of sweaters, long sleeve shirts, long pants, sweatpants of all kinds. Remember to have the pants a little loose so that you can wear the thermal pants underneath. Gloves, woolen or furry hats, scarves and earplugs are all required. The most important thing is always a thick, knee-length coat, or a down jacket with goose down inside is best, super warm and super light for easy carrying.
2. Boots of all kinds, made of leather and with fur inside are best, to keep your feet warm because if your feet are cold you won't be able to walk at all.
3. If you don’t have the above items, don’t worry, when you go to Harbin, you can go to the local market to buy them. They have everything, cheap, beautiful, and suitable for the weather there. There are tons of them in the mall, but they are very expensive, so we only go to the market. After wearing them, we can leave them there because they are too bulky to bring back. Next time we go, we can go to the market to buy more.
Because I am going to a cold country, I have to calculate my luggage carefully before going. I need a lot of things and luggage so there is a high possibility of being overweight.
How to get to Harbin?
All major cities in China have flights to Harbin. From Vietnam, we will have to fly to a major city like Guangzhou, Beijing or Shanghai first, then connect to Harbin.
The average ticket price for both of these flights in winter is around 7 million VND for economy class, and around 25 to 28 million VND for business class depending on the airline. I think this is a completely reasonable price.
The flight time for both legs is about 10 hours, of which about 5 to 6 hours are for flying, the rest is for transit time at the airport. If you have never been to China, instead of flying straight to Harbin, you can stay a few more days at the transit point (Guangzhou, Beijing or Shanghai) to explore more, consider it as killing two birds with one stone.
And moreover, if going to China, Vietnamese people need to apply for an entry visa in advance, the visa fee ranges from 1.5 million to 2.5 million for one person.
The best time to visit Harbin
It is famous for the world's largest Ice and Snow Festival, held every January, so this is probably the best time to visit Harbin. In the summer, the temperature is around 25°C, while in the winter, the average temperature is -15°C. At its coldest, the temperature can drop to -40°C.
The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival (哈尔滨国际冰雪节) is held annually in Harbin City, and is one of the four largest ice and snow festivals in the world, along with the Sapporo Snow Festival, the Quebec City Winter Carnival, and the Ski Festival in Norway.
The festival was first held in 1963 and was interrupted for several years during the Cultural Revolution, then restored in 1985 and has been held regularly ever since.
Where to stay in Harbin?
Like other big cities, Harbin has countless accommodation options, from homestays costing a few hundred thousand dong to hotels costing thousands of dollars. The fastest way is to go to Booking.com to check the prices. As for us, because of Tuan's work, we chose to stay at the beautiful and convenient Sydcn Hotel in West Red Square, located in one of the busiest commercial centers in Harbin, with a price of about 2 million dong per night.
We took this photo in front of the hotel. There were 1000 snowmen made of real snow, taller than us!
Getting here is quite simple, taxi, bus or subway can all be used. This place is famous all over the world so everyone knows it, no need to worry about getting lost.
The Opera House and the festival are quite close together so we can take the same trip from 10am to 3pm and return.
Blocks of ice taken from the surface of the Songhua River are cut into blocks with saws. Different types of saws are used by ice sculptors to create giant works like the one pictured, all made of ice.
Many artisans had to design and work day and night to open the festival. The dewatering water was also used to create the crystal clear ice blocks, making the sculptures more beautiful. We are too small compared to this castle, right?
If you like virtual life, just come here for a session and you will have photos to use for the whole year!
The whole festival area with hundreds of castles, statues, citadels, gates, churches, ski resorts... stretches endlessly, you can go on and on without stopping. This festival, if you go at night, will have millions of colorful lights that are very eye-catching, but we have gone at night twice already, so this time we went during the day to enjoy the white color of the cold winter.
When your feet are tired, stop for a moment and have a hot, fragrant cup of latte. Isn't that great?
Suddenly, a giant red bell appeared in the white snowy sky. People said that ringing this bell will bring good luck, so we jumped in!
The Year of the Pig must have a snow sculpture wall of pigs! This festival holds the Guinness World Record for the largest ice sculpture in the world!
The interesting thing is that this festival only lasts for a month, after that the whole city will melt into water when the weather warms up, and the following winter the artisans will gather to rebuild the city for us to enjoy. Isn't that wonderful?
In addition to the world's largest ice and snow festival, Harbin also has an extremely magnificent and splendid tourist attraction, which is the Opera House. The entire building is covered in white snow and looks very majestic from above. Harbin Grand Theater (English: Harbin Opera House) is located in the Songhua Cultural Center, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, including the Grand Theater (1600) and the small theater (400 seats). In February 2016, Harbin Grand Theater was selected by ArchDaily as the "best cultural building" in the world.
From the ground, you can walk along the winding stairs along the roof of the theater to the top of the building and enjoy the panoramic view. You don’t have to buy any tickets to climb because this is a public area, so feel free to do so.
Harbin Grand Theatre
The next day we decided to go to the city center to play. Harbin is heavily influenced by the Russians because it borders Russia and has a lot of Russian immigrants living here. Walking around, the architecture around the city made me feel like I was in a European city and not in China, it was so interesting! Even though it was sunny and noon, the temperature was still -16°C!
Central Street is the oldest and longest pedestrian street in Harbin, 1,450 meters long, and also the only street in Harbin paved with stone as shown in the picture.
The irony is that even though it was so cold that people could barely breathe, they still lined up in a long line to...I bet you what they were doing!
... to EAT ICE CREAM!!! Of course, with my curiosity and irresistible desire, I also jumped in line to buy two ice creams to eat. And it was really irresistibly delicious. This ice cream shop has been here for over a hundred years, since 1906, it's so famous that people always line up in long lines!
Bored with the city, we went to the forest together. This season, you can take beautiful pictures anywhere.
Here is the great frozen Songhua River, in the distance is the city center!
My legs were so tired that I went out to sit in the middle of the river for a bit. The wind here was so strong that it almost blew us away. But we still enjoyed this feeling in the -16°C cold.
