HARBIN!

(it's an ox)












The main street was a walking street with ice sculptures down the middle. At night the place was completely lit up. Granted it was very, very cold, walking around the street was a lot of fun and I ended up spending hours at a time just wandering around (I only got lost once and was able to get a cab to take me back to the hostel, starting point for me, so all good!!!!)















This was my favorite place to eat, homemade yogurt, homemade ice-cream, hot pot, SO GOOD!



















The church of St. Sophia was like this giant music box covered with pigeons that would freak out during a really intense section and fly all over the place. Everyone was running towards the birds to feed them and take pictures, I, however, was smart to back away and give them their space.
































The slide I went down in the video.
















The ground was snow and ice so people were falling all over the place!




























































Cinderella's Castle!!!











If you look closely you will see a little Nescafe box (middle left with the red and white roof). These little boxes were spread out around the park and they were the only heated places within miles, so a small "shot" of instant coffee was 20 kuai (a tall starbucks latte is 22 kuai) but it was worth every mao to get warm.











SNACK TIME!

















The Songhua River was completely frozen so you could go out to the very center, walking, skating, tobogganing, riding in a dog sled, riding HORSES! It was a lot of fun to go out there but I almost died by out of control tobogganers (especially those grandparents and the kids!).