What to See and Do at China's Biggest Ice Festival Harbin

(Source: Travel Pulse)

Sometimes referred to as “Ice Disneyland,” the Chinese city of Harbin comes alive in the winter with its amazing Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival. This year’s winter wonderland opened on Jan. 4 with the theme “Ice Snow Joy Ode, Meet in Harbin.”

The festival takes place in four main theme parks: Sun Island Snow Sculpture Expo, Ice and Snow Amusement World, Zhaolin Park Ice Lantern Fair with a variety of chilly activities that revolve around the snow and ice that envelope the city in the winter months.

While giant ice sculptures lit from within by a rainbow of LED lights take center stage, there’s more to Harbin than just life-size sculptures carved from giant blocks of ice. Here are some of the other things you can see and do at the month-long festival.

Visit the Ice Bar

The Ice Palace Restaurant and Ice Bar opens seasonally at the Shangri-la Hotel Harbin and has an indoor temperature of 18 degrees below zero celsius.

Visitors can enjoy hot pots in a cool setting. The restaurant has four private rooms and can seat around 90 people.

The ice bar seats 30 people and serves a variety of vodka and whisky drinks as well as gluhwein (hot wine) and other warm alcoholic beverages.

It’s open daily for lunch and dinner and the bar is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Make Your Way Through an Ice Maze

If you think that corn mazes are cool at Halloweentime, then you are probably going to love making your way through a maze made of ice and snow. You can visit during the day and brave the elements to make it through to the end, or let the LED lights guide you through the darkness to find your way through.

Enjoy an Ice Slide

For those who are 16 and older, Harbin is home to one of the world’s longest ice slides, coming in at around 300 meters. It is a high-speed thrill ride that is sure to make visitors feel exhilarated — what with the cold and the adrenaline you’ll feel not he way down.

However, you don’t have to be a grown-up to enjoy ice sliding. There are plenty of smaller slides (also with smaller line) sure to please visitors of all ages.

Enjoy an Icy Popsicle

A tradition in the winter months in Harbin is to stroll the European-style pedestrian Zhongyang Street while enjoying a Madieer popsicle from the Madieer Beverage House. These milk popsicles have been made here since 1906 and are a winter staple.

Winter Swimming

The Songhua River is a major artery that passes through the town of Harbin and locals don’t just enjoy swimming during the summer months — the winter is perfect, too. Residents carve large swimming holes into the icy river that they use as a pool during the winter. While watching people swim is perfectly acceptable, the bravest men and women will jump in and join the fun.

Ice Climbing

Ice skating and skiing are a given in Harbin during the wintertime, as are toboggan rides and sledding but at the festival, visitors can also try their hand at ice climbing. See if you can make it to the top of a giant ice castle wall or just watch others try their hand from below.