How long for the Harbin Ice Festival
Replies: 13 - Last Post: Nov 30, 2012 4:11 PM Last Post By: manchurianexile
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How long for the Harbin Ice Festival
I'm planning to head up to Harbin for the 2013 Ice Festival. Anyone have advice on how long to visit for? 2 nights? 3 nights? Also does anyone have any opinions on when to go? Early January? Late January? Middle of the week vs the weekend? I'm an American expat living in Shanghai so timing doesn't really matter as to which day(s) I go but I have no idea what to plan for.1
The Harbin Ice Festival is worth seeing.But I'm not sure it's worth seeing twice, I'm not sure I'd ever consider going on consequtive days and three times is getting rather silly. I suppose it depends on how much you like looking at models of famous buildings made out of ice. Do you find yourself staring, for inordinate amounts of time at snowmen? Do you consider the ice-cubes in your Scotch on the Rocks as similar to Lego?
I love Harbin, it is my Chinese hometown; but as a tourist destination, it doesn't offer much. I'm not sure what else you'll be able to do OTHER than going to the Ice Festival in January.
2
i had been Sloar Island for The Harbin Ice Festival and spent 2 nights at there around mid-January, I think it's enough to visit and have fun thought there really have A LOT OF tourists! Beside the Ice Festival, I do like the city, u can see the beautiful Russia buildings, chruches in the downtown and also people sell ice-cream on the floor, much fun!! And also the tiger zoo is ok to visit by the way~Good Luck!
3
I'm not sure I'd ever consider going on consequtive days and three times is getting rather silly.I'm definitely not considering three nights in Harbin to go to the Ice Festival three times, the second and possibly third day would be to visit something else possibly worth seeing in Harbin.
4
You're problem is going to be that pretty much everything else worth seeing in Harbin (And there isn't a lot, to be honest) will be almost as ice-covered as the Ice Festival. Daoli is a very nice area for a stroll and Zhongyang Dajie/Sophia is also very nice... BUT... Daoli is far from big and Zhongyang Dajie will be iced-up (Iced cobble-stone are NOT fun; believe me).Other than that little area, you have the Tiger Park, as #2 saysor the 731 base. But both will be COLD! You could, I suppose, go out to the old Jin capital at A'Cheng.,
5
They have a different theme for the ice festival every year. So if you enjoy "getting out of Dodge" (Shanghai), as I certainly do, for a change of environment, I think you'll enjoy yourself. I'll admit to being biased because I prefer dongbei and Harbin/Heilongjiang in particular. There are some cities I don't need to see twice. But I enjoy any chance to bum around Harbin for a few days, stop by legendary formerly Russian-owned Qiulin department store and get some breads and sausages, eat good jiaozi and so on. The people there, at least for me, are very friendly. And they speak the most grammatically correct Mandarin in China. You don't always need to have places to go. Sometimes enjoying yourself in a different city atmosphere is relaxing in itself.6
To cover the highlights of the Harbin Ice Festival, i think 3 nights is needs. The draft plan could be as follows:Day1: Arrive in Harbin from Shanghai.
Day2: Sunisland Snow Sculpture, St. Sofia Orthodox Church, the Centre Street and the Ice Lantern in Zhaolin Park
Day3: The Provincial Museum, the Dragon Tower, the Siberian Tiger Park and the Grand World of Snow
Day4: Go back to Shanghai.
For the visiting time, both early January and late january are workable.
Hope it helps.
9
Ice and Snow World:9:00—12:00 (Adult: RMB 150; Children/student ticket: RMB 120 )
12:00—21:00
Adult: RMB 330 (New Year's Day, the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival)
Adult: RMB 300 (ordinary days)
Student/children: RMB 160
By the way, 70 or more years old and under 1.2 meters children are free to visit the Ice and Snow World
11
#10With the best will in the world, no-one is going to go to the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival before midday, pay a lower price to get in and still be there when they turn the lights on (Or, at least, when the lighting begins to take effect at about 5pm) without...
A) being rather deranged beforehand.
B) being treated for frostbite and exposure afterward.
C) both.
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