Harbin Travel: A Simple Guide on Food, Accommodation, and Transportation
A wonderful life starts with travel.
The overall itinerary was perfect, with enough time to visit all places. About accommodation: choose near Central Street, so it's convenient to go anywhere. There are many hotels nearby with various price ranges. Booking in advance will be cheaper. About food: not expensive. The portions of Northeast Chinese cuisine are very large. Don't order according to Southern standards. Generally, two people can't finish two dishes. Starting from Shanghai, arrived in Harbin at 8 pm. The moment I got off the plane, I felt the chill. It was really cold at night, especially the feet, ears, neck, and face. So as long as you cover these parts to prevent wind penetration, it's fine. Therefore, masks, hats, gloves, and snow boots are very important. Buy any mask for wind protection. Gloves need to be waterproof, because if gloves touch snow that melts, it will directly freeze. Non-waterproof gloves will be very cold for the hands! I brought two pairs of gloves: one waterproof, one cute fleece-lined pair. Use the waterproof ones for Snow Town or skiing, and switch to the cute furry gloves for shopping. For hats, buy a normal winter hat that can cover the ears. The main function of the hat is to cover the ears. If that's not enough, you might also need ear muffs, because it's really cold. Snow boots must be waterproof, with a surface that doesn't stick to snow. For friends with glasses, I recommend wearing contact lenses, because lens glasses will fog up and freeze instantly when you wear a mask at the same time, making it hard to see. As for sunglasses, optional. I didn't experience snow blindness when climbing the snowy mountain, so I didn't need them. Also, when climbing a snowy mountain, you must buy shoe covers that wrap around the shoes and calves to prevent snow from entering the shoes, which could freeze you to death... Also! Remember to bring a thermos! Very important! It allows you to drink hot water to warm up when it's very cold! All my gear was bought for this trip, from head to toe, so I chose cheaper options, but they were sufficient for me to handle the trip.
Clothing advice: As a Hainan native, I think I can withstand the cold quite well. Upper body: Uniqlo thermal underwear + thin fleece sweatshirt + long down jacket. Upper body was fine, not cold. Lower body: 700g ultra-thick leggings + regular summer cargo pants, also manageable. But my down jacket wasn't long enough to cover my knees, so it was a bit cold. In Snow Town, I bought a pair of knee pads, which kept me warm enough. However, my toes were really cold. Even with snow boots and extra thick socks, I still felt cold, so I kept stamping my feet. Keeping moving and walking prevented too much cold. As for hand warmers, you can buy them in Harbin; they are sold everywhere. I mainly stuck them in my shoes, which helped a bit. No need to stick them on the body. I have an iPhone 8. When climbing the snowy mountain, I kept my phone in my pants pocket, and it was safe, didn't freeze and shut down. So I didn't put hand warmers on my phone.
Heavy snow in Snow Valley at night
Snow Valley bonfire party – lively and bustling, with tourists cheering.
I was very lucky. On the second day, it encountered heavy snow. I was super happy! The happiness of a southerner seeing snow, so beautiful. The tour group was also great, arranged everything clearly. On the first day, went to Snow Valley and just encountered heavy snowfall. At night, Snow Valley had a bonfire party, very lively. With heavy snow falling, the scene was too beautiful. But it was really cold. Staying outside made my feet unbearably cold. When snow fell on my hat, it melted and froze immediately. Gloves also turned hard and frozen. No exaggeration. When I wanted to take photos, I quickly took off my mask and gloves (even though the gloves were touchscreen-compatible, the cold made them less responsive, so for faster photos, I directly removed gloves to shoot). After shooting, I quickly put them back on, otherwise I'd freeze in no time. At night, we stayed in a characteristic Northeast farmhouse kang (heated brick bed), with options for four-person or six-person kangs. If you don't want to share, you can pay extra to reserve a bed; it's not expensive.
From Snow Valley, we then went to Snow Town. We climbed a snowy mountain with a total distance of 18 km (including 3 km from the guesthouse to the mountain base). You can hike the entire route or choose transportation options such as horse-drawn sleds and snowmobiles. Starting from the guesthouse, I chose to experience the three-kilometer horse-drawn sled ride. It was quite interesting and worth trying. If you come during Christmas, it feels like riding Santa Claus's sleigh, with jingle bells ringing. A suggestion: if riding a horse-drawn sled, don't choose the first row, because there's nothing to block the wind there. When speed picks up, it's extremely cold. My knees got frozen there, painful! The mountain ascent is about 7-8 km. I chose to hike all the way to the top. Snowmobiles are available: half-distance for 150 yuan per person or full distance for 300 yuan per person. For those with good stamina, I recommend hiking the whole way. I think it's fine; even though I don't exercise regularly, I managed okay. Some parts of the uphill path were slippery and required pulling on ropes to climb. I found it quite fun. The best part of hiking is the process itself, where you see many different sceneries. Although the snowy mountain is cold, once you start moving, you don't feel cold. As long as you don't stop, the hat and gloves are stiff and frozen, and hair exposed outside also gets covered with frost. When climbing, you don't need to wear a mask; otherwise, the water vapor will only cause more ice to form on your front hair. Also, climbing is tiring, and wearing a mask makes breathing difficult.
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It takes about three hours to reach the top with the horse-drawn sled. At the snowy summit, there isn't much food, just simple meals like instant noodles, haha, 15 yuan per cup, acceptable. The owner will prepare it for you. I found it delicious.
The guesthouse we stayed at in Snow Valley
A young man climbing the snowy mountain without a hat – his hair turned white in no time.
When descending the snowy mountain, I wanted to experience the snowmobile, so I chose to ride down. To be honest, it was like a roller coaster. It wasn't the thrill that scared me, but the extreme cold!! The ride was too fast, and I deeply regretted it. It was so cold that I thought my ears might have frozen off. I didn't dare open my eyes the whole time. My face hurt badly! I buried my face in the driver's down jacket hood the entire ride! So, if you don't specifically want to experience a snowmobile, don't take it! The cold is too uncomfortable! Aside from that, the snowy mountain is very beautiful, with thick, soft snow, making you feel like in a fairy tale. It's well worth the climb! Crossing this mountain leads to Snow Town, which is the filming location of the show "Where Are We Going, Dad?"! This is a beautiful, dreamy white snow world, extremely beautiful, extremely beautiful, and extremely cold, extremely cold! You must visit Snow Town once in your life – it's so wonderful.
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Snow Town – daytime appearance. I forgot to mention that there is a popular activity of splashing water to make ice. It costs 78 yuan for someone to take photos of you. Personally, I think it's unnecessary to spend that money. Just go back to your guesthouse, get hot water, and splash it yourself. Haha.
With no experience, I didn't do it very well.
The final itinerary of the tour group was to go to Yabuli Ski Resort. For beginners, it is recommended to hire a coach for 240 yuan for two hours. I initially planned to figure it out myself, but after putting on the skis, I couldn't even stand steadily, so I still hired a coach. In the end, I still couldn't do anything. This sport is not for me – too scary, I can't control myself, feeling like I might do the splits any moment, haha. The coaches here will ask for tips. It's up to you. I gave 50 yuan. The coach worked hard, not only teaching but also helping with ski equipment, carrying things, etc.
During this time, we also had simple meals of instant noodles. Haha, during the few days in Harbin, I had instant noodles twice, which were quite tasty. The three-day-two-night tour ended, and we returned to Harbin at 7 pm.
We had one remaining free day. We chose to visit Central Street, Flood Control Memorial Tower, Songhua River, and St. Sophia Cathedral. The most interesting was the frozen Songhua River, where there were slippery icy patches everywhere, allowing you to slide around. It was quite fun, but I didn't dare to try.
This trip to Harbin was definitely worthwhile and wonderful. I saw my favorite snow and experienced a heavy snowfall. It was truly beautiful and lucky! Walking with a loved one in heavy snow, our hair turned white together (a poetic expression meaning growing old together).
