City Introduction

Special historical processes and geographical location contribute to the exotic beauty of city of Harbin and it is known as the "Oriental Moscow". Perhaps 90% of people come to Harbin for its captivating ice and snow in winter at Zhaolin Park Ice Garden Party, Ice and Snow World, Sun Island Snow Sculpture and so on...... when the whole city is shrouded in snow and ice and is set off in bright colors, there is not an exaggeration to describe it as a pure and noble world. But the beauty of Harbin does not lie in ice and snow, and you may also go to see pigeons flying from Sophia Cathedral, or get to the Central Avenue finding somewhat Russian-styled restaurants to enjoy fine food; on Oktoberfest carnival in the summer, you just go to the old Laodaowaisao Street to look at small Baroque Western-style buildings, which is just a comfort. Finally, you must go to have a look at the Songhua River. Whether for the setting sun shining on the sparkling lake in summer, or skating or swimming people in winter, the beautiful Songhua River still winds through the city and washes away the excessive magnificence of this century-long ice city. Under the night sky, Harbin seems as if to talk about her dream-like past and present life.

 

 

 

 

History and Culture

Harbin is never a walled city. As early as 22,000 years ago in the late Paleolithic age, there were human activities. About 5,000 years ago, Harbin region entered the Neolithic age. About 3,000 years ago in the late Yin and Shang Dynasties, Harbin entered the Bronze Age, and falls within the scope of Baijinbao culture distribution region —— the earliest ancient civilized country in Heilongjiang Region. Harbin is also the birthplace of the two dynasties of Jin and Qing. Early in the 20th century, with the construction of the Zhongdong Railway, Harbin already became an international commercial port and established its position as an economic center and an international city in the Northern Manchuria. In 1932, Harbin was reduced to a Puppet Regime of Japan and Harbin liberated itself from the Japanese rule in 1945.

 

 

 

 

Climate Change

The best time to travel to Harbin is in summer and winter. In summer, it’s a good choice to travel to Harbin for summer vacation. You can go to Sun Island to see those European architectures nestled in the green, or by the way go for an outing with your family, or just sit quietly at the Songhua River watching pleasure boats moving to and from, or come to Harbin Beer Festival or Musical Festival for adequate relaxation. In winter Harbin is covered with snow, and here you can see is a snow and ice world entirely different from the Yangtze river delta. Ice and Snow World in the bright colors and Snow Expo on the Sun Island will offer you an insight into a dream-like Harbin. As for those exotic buildings that can be found everywhere on the streets, they will bring you a kind of quiet beauty whenever you come here.

 

 

 

 

Useful Information

Post Office

Harbin zip code; 150,000

Daowai District Post Office Harbin (Jindaowai)

Address: No. 88 Nanma Road Harbin

Contact Information: 0451-88386932

Arrive Lines of Transportation: No. 1,5,19,28,36,53,65,107,108,109,113,114,120 and 205 as well as the Nanma Station of airport bus Line 3.

Post Sub-office Central Avenue Harbin Post Office

Address: No. 115 Central Avenue Daoli District Harbin City

Business Hours: 9:00-17:00

Contact Information: 0451-84615589

Medical Care

Harbin has a good level of medical care, where there is no difficulty in dealing with minor injuries and illnesses on the trip.

First Hospital Affiliated with Harbin Medical University

Address: No. 199 East Dazhi Street Nangang District Harbin

Contact Information: 0451-85555555

First Hospital of Harbin

Address: No. 151 Diduan Street Daoli District Harbin

Contact Information: 0451-84883003

Heilongjiang Provincial First Aid Center

Address: No. 109 Weixing Road Daowai District Harbin

Contact Information: 0451-82469211

 

 

 

 

Religion

Religion: There are Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Judaism and other religions in Harbin, of which Buddhism is the mainstream with most believers.

Culture: Harbin is a mere century-old city. But it is a city with unique colonial cultural characteristics. In addition to a small number of Manchu descentants, the majority of the residents here are immigrants from Shandong, Hebei and other provinces inside Shanhaiguan Pass. Harbin people have many outdoor activities, such as skiing, hunting, skating, watching winter swimming, playing ice sledge, having a picnic and drinking beer. Doing the Yangko dance is also an outdoor activity favored by Harbin people. Some celebrities such as Jing Yidan, Liu Lu, Chen Hong, Sun Yue, Chen Lu and Jin Tielin (two famous figure skaters), Huang Hong, Kong Linghui and Li Ao in Taiwan, all come from Harbin.

 

 

 

 

Tourism Service Number

Way-asking Hotline: 0451-10109998

Inquiry Office of Civil Aviation: 0451-82894220

City Bus Terminal: 0451-82830116

Tourism Quality Complaint Tel: 0451-84664315

Mayor Hotline: 0451-12345

Police Tel:

Fire Tel:

First Aid Center:

Convenient service hotline 96345

Price Supervision Report hotline 12358

Quality Supervision Report Hotline12365

 

 

 

 

Notes

Special Notes

Harbin Time

In Winter the daytime sunshine duration is 7: 30-16: 30, and shops are all closed at 20:30. Most buses will stop operating around 19:00, so you’d better go out as early as possible.

Cold Weather

Some people thought that their body could not stand the very cold weather with tens of Celsius degrees below zero, but in fact Harbin is not so cold as you imagine. As long as you have made good preparations in advance by wearing a hat, scarves and other warm items, then coldness is never a factor to influence your relaxations. When going to such ice-based activity places as Ice and Snow World, please remember to wear thick down jacket, thick trousers, snow boots or non-slip shoes with some wool inside; besides, do not forget to wear thick gloves and a hat covering your ears.

Dry Winter

Generally there is a dry winter in the north, and Harbin is no exception. Skin and lips chap easily, so you should prepare skin care products in advance, especially lip balm and hand cream.

Electronic Products

In Harbin at the temperature of tens of Celsius degrees below zero, any electronic product must be kept warm, such as cameras, mobile phones and psp; so you must be extremely careful in this regard.

Internal Heat from Heated Kang

If you have the honor to become a guest in a local family, you can experience dining on the heated kang, but you may easily have internal heat if sleeping on the kang for a night; for example, when getting up early you may have a sore throat, a dry mouth and so on. You can resolve this trouble by drinking plenty of boiled water, eating more fruits and trying to sleep at the ends of the kang。

Dish Servings

Usually there are bigger dish servings in Harbin, and you should consider appropriate amount when ordering dishes, and try not to waste food. Moreover, the northeastern dishes in winter are mainly based on stewed food, which is less convenient for a portable package.

Shopping Tips

Harbin merchants, especially those selling special products usually set very high nominal prices, so you should cut down prices as low as possible when purchasing them. Also try not to go to the stores along the streets, because products there are often more expensive; you can go to Toulong small commodities wholesale market to purchase small items.

 

 

 

 

Festivals(Important/Historical/Folks Ones)

Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival

Time: Opened on January 5 each year; last about one month according to the weather conditions and event arrangements;

Location: Harbin city

International Ice and Snow Festival is China's first international festival focusing on the ice and snow activities, which is called the world's four major ice and snow festivals, together with Japanese Sapporo Snow Festival, Canadian Quebec Winter Carnival and Oslo Holmenkollen Ski Festival. A variety of winter sports competitions, ice engraving art exhibitions and photography exhibitions are mainly held during the Festival.

In addition, the festival activities also include Snow and Ice Disneyland built on the Songhua River - Harbin Ice and Snow World, large ice sculpture exhibition at Stalin Park, snow sculpture garden party held at the Sun Island, and the grand-scale Ice Lantern Garden Party at Zhaolin Park.

Harbin Beer Festival

Time: in July each year

Location： Ice and Snow World

Harbin is the place where China's first barrel of beer is produced, so it has a profound beer culture. Harbin people wildly booze, overshadowing Bavarian people on Oktoberfest in Munich of Germany. Fascinating and charming beauties of Harbin and Natasha from Russia already become a dazzling landscape on the Oktoberfest.

Harbin Concert

Time: August 6-15 in the lunar calendar

Location： the specific location changes from year to year in the city of Harbin

China Harbin Summer Concert, referred to as "CHSC" is a grand music event held once every two years, which lasts 10 days. As a unique fruit by Harbin people, Harbin Summer Concert is a grand, large-scale and star-studded musical occasion, which has become the cradle of musical artists and is one of the three major concerts in China, thus laying the status of Harbin as a renowned music city.

Harbin Ice-Rolling Festival

Time: the 15th day of the first month in the lunar calendar

Location： Mulan County, Harbin

Ice-rolling Festival is a local folk custom, with a long history. On the evening of Lantern Festival, the locals light candles, put them into a variety of graphic patterns on the river, and then all people, regardless of age and sex, have to roll on the frozen river. It is said that by doing this troubles and disasters can be rolled off and good luck and happiness will be brougnt about. This custom comes from an ancient legend.