Harbin

Now, you might well ask, why one should visit a city on the Russian border in the dead of winter? Harbin has an interesting and colorful history, which an interested reader can easily gather online. I won’t talk much about this, except to highlight that there is considerable Russian influence here, and there are some orthodox cathedrals, well worth visiting for their architecture. But the real attraction of Harbin was the ice sculpture festival. This is one of the few ice festivals held globally and thousands congregate here to make impressive and massive sculptures out of ice – statues, pagodas, temples, fantastic creatures, myths etc. all come alive at the hands of the artists and they are decorated with special lights to give an amazing look and feel, and can be viewed from far away. These works of art last till late February before they melt. We had a great time, viewing these ice sculptures and wrapping it up with a live dance and music show.