The Ice Festival: Sliding Through Siberia

Last night we went to the Ice Festival on the other side of the river just outside the city. I might have mentioned before that Harbin, in addition to lining the streets of the city with ice sculptures (including a working ice piano!), erects an entire ice city every winter. It takes hundreds of people moving tons of ice from the river one month to build. Until I have a chance to upload pictures, you’ll have to take our word that it is pretty incredible. The best way to describe it is probably comparing it to Disney World made completely out of snow and ice. However, instead of the different Disney buildings, there are replicas of famous Chinese monuments, cathedrals, buildings, and even the Great Wall. At night, it is all lit up in bright, (slightly tacky), flashing lights and it took us about two hours to wander through and see it all. Luckily, they also had various cafes and bars (also made of ice) set up where we could go in and thaw out a little every half hour or so.

With all of the snow, ice, and funny outfits, our five-year-old selves were out in full force. Although, let's be honest, it doesn't take much. In addition to plopping down to make some snow angels, one of my favorite parts was that almost all of the ice palaces had 30 to 200 foot slides down the walls. I initially insisted on going down every slide at least twice – but after about ten runs we realized that there were at over 50 slides in the park, and, it kinda hurt… a lot at times depending on how bumpy the ice was and how far you went flying on the ground when the slide ended. Only two minor collisions, one with a child and one with a camera man, to report. No real injuries other than a sore butt and elbow this morning.