#2021 Mid-Autumn Festival# Harbin, Heilongjiang / Heihe Wudalianchi / Mudanjiang Jingpo Lake

📍 Harbin · 👁 8422 reads · ❤️ 30 likes

The pandemic has been a huge blow to travel enthusiasts. Arrived in Harbin on the 19th, and by the 21st, a case was reported in Harbin. After that, my travel code showed an asterisk, and I couldn't go anywhere. Almost couldn't leave Harbin and return home. So tough QAQ

The exit on the first floor of the airport is through odd-numbered gates, with airport buses and a ground parking lot outside. The exit on the second floor is through even-numbered gates, and only cars picking people up can enter the second floor.

🍴 Songpu 1918 Western Restaurant

Formerly the Songpu Foreign Firm, now a Western restaurant. Decorated like an old foreign-style mansion, two floors. The second floor has a better atmosphere, fewer seats on the first floor.

Casserole beef and casserole shrimp – the pot looks small, but there are many beef and shrimp pieces, flavorful with broth, topped with puff pastry. Cream baked mixed ingredients has cream mashed potatoes on top and bacon bits and ham bits underneath. Ukrainian borscht is similar to Russian soup but richer. Russian smoked meat soup. Russian cuisine feels like a fusion of Chinese and Western. I haven't seen Russian food in Shanghai; first time trying it, not bad.

St. Sophia Cathedral + Sophia Street Corner Coffee ☕️

The best spot for photos is at Sophia Street Corner Coffee; other angles capture modern buildings behind. When we went, there was a music and painting exhibition. Ticket 20 yuan per person. One ticket can be exchanged for a Madeier ice cream at the corner coffee. The ice cream tastes like White Rabbit candy, with a decent milky flavor. The church lights up at night.

Sun Stone Plaza (Deer Park)

Exit from Metro Line 2 at Taiyangdao Station, right at Gate 1 of Sun Island. Sun Stone Plaza is there. You can rent two-person bikes for 60 yuan/hour and four-person bikes for 100 yuan/hour, with a 300 yuan deposit. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from Sun Stone Plaza to the Deer Park. The deer are very lively, sometimes jumping over the fence to escape, and not afraid of people.

Squirrel Island is a big cage with six or seven little black squirrels and four or five little guinea pigs. Since they’re all rodents, they live together. There are also rabbits nearby.

In two hours, you can only explore a third of the area. It’s a big public park for city residents; many people bring tents for weekend picnics.

The legendary river ferry stops at 17:00, so we had to take Line 2 to People's Square and then walk to the Songhua River bank, which is the east end of Stalin Park. Walking along the river for 20 minutes leads to the Flood Control Monument, which is also one end of Central Street. On weekend evenings, the Songhua River bank is especially lively with several singing stalls. Left ear hears "Qili Xiang," right ear hears "Moscow Nights." The night breeze by the river is quite cold. There are far fewer Sino-Russian trade shops on Central Street than when I came a few years ago.

From Harbin to Wudalianchi Scenic Area, it normally takes a 4-hour drive. Depart in the morning and arrive at noon. I searched on Dianping for a highly-rated restaurant, featuring fish and tofu, which are also specialties of Wudalianchi. It's on a small street next to the Wudalianchi Wanhao Mingyuan Business Hotel. Besides specialty shops, there are restaurants. Their specialties are crucian carp, catfish, and carp, all very large, each around 4 jin. The portions are huge; two people can only order at most two dishes, otherwise, you definitely can't finish.

The first scenic spot is North Drinking Spring. The spring water is slightly alkaline, a bit like sparkling water, not very tasty. Ticket 20 yuan. Mid-Autumn Festival happened to have evening performances; the daytime ticket is valid. Across from North Drinking Spring is South Drinking Spring, which is smaller; we didn't go. The two springs are said to have different effects.

Then we went to Laohei Mountain. Ticket 75 yuan plus scenic area shuttle 25 yuan. The shuttle includes two segments: from the ticket office to the transfer parking lot, and from the transfer parking lot to Flame Mountain. At the transfer parking lot, you can climb Laohei Mountain to see the volcanic crater 🌋. The round trip takes one and a half hours, with uneven stone steps and a bit steep.

Flame Mountain mainly features injection cones and injection disks. You can also take a boat tour of the volcanic barrier lake. To get on the boat 🚤, take the shuttle to Flame Mountain and walk to the end of the boardwalk.

We arrived late; we went to Flame Mountain first and then couldn't make it to climb Laohei Mountain. The last shuttle from the bottom of Laohei Mountain to the exit was at 17:30, and the schedule probably varies by season.

In the evening, Yaoquan Mountain happened to have Mid-Autumn Festival activities.

At 8:00 am, we were the first to visit Wenpo. Entered the scenic area from the entrance near the hotel, took a 20-minute boat ride, and reached the boardwalk entrance to start the tour. Along the way, we saw Jing Po, Bi Po, and Li Po. The weather wasn't cooperating; it was a bit cloudy. The whole route took about two hours. If it were sunny, the underwater plants would look better, complemented by the surrounding greenery and various shapes of volcanic lava rocks. Overall, the scenery was nice. Wenpo has two entrances/exits, so you don't have to backtrack, but you can enter and exit from either.

Then we went to Yaoquan Mountain Scenic Area, mainly Yaoquan Mountain and Erlongyan Spring. Both are free and located on opposite sides of the road.

The spring water at Erlongyan tastes like mineral water, very cold and delicious. Locals bring large buckets to collect the water.

On Yaoquan Mountain, there is a temple, Zhongling Chan Temple, where you can burn incense and make wishes, and also a Guanyin statue. Two paths lead up the mountain from the entrance: one is a sloped circular walkway, the other is a staircase with about 400 steps, not too tiring. You can return the same way or take the other path down.

Lunch was at Wang Mao Lu, a large restaurant that receives group meals. Fish is sold by weight. When there are many tour groups, they can't accommodate individual customers. Tofu is a specialty, prepared in various ways, and it tastes good. The fish are all live, big and tender, not found elsewhere. But this restaurant is expensive for a scenic area.

White Dragon Cave Underground Ice River is an underground cave formed by lava flow from a volcanic eruption 500,000 years ago. It's around minus ten degrees Celsius year-round. Ticket 15 yuan per person, about 500 meters long. At the entrance, you can rent a coat, but we people from the 'bao you' region (referring to areas with humid cold) are not afraid of the cold. It was a bit cold at first, but then it was fine. It takes about 20 minutes to walk through.

The ceiling has ice flowers and naturally formed hard basalt throughout the cave. It is one of the few lava tunnel landscapes in China.

At the ticket office entrance, there were four little foxes, not afraid of people. You can buy sausages from the stall to feed them, but they don't let you touch them; they dodge quickly.

That day, a COVID-19 case was reported in Harbin. The next morning, news announced that without a 48-hour nucleic acid test report, you could not leave Harbin. In the evening, shopping malls and subway stations in Harbin became strict.

The next morning, Harbin announced that without a 48-hour nucleic acid test, you could not leave Harbin. Since the originally booked train was early, we boarded the train to Mudanjiang before the notice came out, so we were not trapped in Harbin. We originally planned to visit Hengdaohezi and the Siberian Tiger Park, but with consecutive new cases in Harbin, the Harbin green code already had an asterisk, and we couldn't move freely. All scenic spots required nucleic acid reports. We had to get off at Mudanjiang Station and find a hospital nearby to get tested.

First, we went to Mudanjiang First People's Hospital. The WeChat public account for nucleic acid test appointment showed full. In desperation, we called the hospital and were told that several nearby hospitals could do the test. Then we went to Mudanjiang Medical College Affiliated Hongqi Hospital. There were slightly fewer people than at the First People's Hospital, but since it was the first day of the policy, there were still many people. We scanned a code to register and pay, and queued for an hour before finally getting tested. The results would be out around 8 or 9 PM that evening and could be checked on the phone.

After the test, we drove to Jingpo Lake, 90 kilometers from Mudanjiang, 1.5 hours. The Jingpo Lake scenic area required a nucleic acid test to enter, so we had to go to the nearby Jingpo Gorge. It happened to clear up, so we were lucky. The ticket was 60 yuan. I saw low reviews online, but maybe because it was sunny and there were very few people in the scenic area, we could enjoy and take photos freely, so we thought it was quite good. The scenery was also nice. There were some Korean-style swings that you stand on and sway.

Around Jingpo Lake, there are many farmhouses, guesthouses, and hotels. None are particularly good; the general level is about ordinary three-star. Each place operates as a restaurant plus accommodation. There are very few restaurants that only serve food. Because of the pandemic, business was already mediocre, and with the Harbin outbreak, it was even worse. The entire scenic area had very few people.

The entrance hall of Jingpo Lake scenic area is newly built and lights up at night. According to the driver, the new entrance had just been completed a few days ago, originally intended for National Day Golden Week, but then came the Harbin outbreak... The visitor center is open 24 hours because there are hotels inside the scenic area.

With a nucleic acid test report, you can enter the scenic area. The north gate is closest to Diaoshuilou Waterfall, only 750 meters walk. At the entrance, you can take a sightseeing car. It costs 5 yuan to Diaoshuilou Waterfall, 10 yuan to Jingpo Villa Pier or other places. The north gate to the villa pier is 5 kilometers, which is where you take a boat tour. Because the weather was bad, we didn't take the boat. The boat tour has full lake and half lake options; the full lake takes 3 hours.

Entering from the north gate, you can visit Bohai Style Park, Hongluonv Culture Park, and Diaoshuilou Waterfall in sequence. From Diaoshuilou Waterfall, take the sightseeing car to the villa pier to board a boat.

The Diaoshuilou Waterfall performance is at 10 am and 2 pm, each time jumping once and then climbing up along the waterfall rocks. It's a Guinness World Record holder – a very fit middle-aged man who, in temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius, jumps the waterfall in just shorts and bare-chested.

Jingpo Lake is very large, and the scenic area is also large. Half a day only covers half the lake; a full day is needed for the entire lake.

Around 10 am at the scenic area, I received a call saying that Changbai Mountain would not allow visitors with a Harbin travel history. Our seven-day trip was forced to end on the fifth day. Mudanjiang also had no direct flights to Shanghai; all required stopovers or transfers, and there were few flights. Tickets for that day were almost sold out. Transferring through other provincial airports was also restricted. High-speed trains and bullet trains required transfers in Changchun, Beijing, etc., and took a long time; by the time we reached the transfer station, the nucleic acid test report would have expired. I kept refreshing flight bookings. At noon, by a stroke of luck in misfortune, I grabbed the last two first-class tickets from Mudanjiang to Shanghai with a stopover in Dalian, departing at 4 pm. Each ticket cost 5000 yuan – exorbitant! 😭😭😭😭 But I was really afraid that the pandemic policy would change day by day, and the 48-hour nucleic acid test would expire. Delaying would make it harder to leave, and being stranded in quarantine would be terrible. There was no choice but to buy them. We didn't even have time for lunch; we hurriedly bought KFC to take away at the scenic area visitor center and rushed to the airport.

On the way from Jingpo Lake to Mudanjiang Airport, we encountered a check and registration by the epidemic prevention team. Everyone with a Harbin asterisk on their travel code had to register their information and license plate. After registration, we were allowed to pass. Fortunately, we made it to Mudanjiang Hailang Airport without incident. Entering the airport was also very strict: scanning codes, registration, checking vaccination status and nucleic acid reports. If you had an asterisk and no nucleic acid report, you basically couldn't leave.

Finally, we made it back to Shanghai safely. It was truly an unforgettable experience. I hope the pandemic ends soon!!

The remaining 2 days of the Changbai Mountain trip were canceled. The first time I went to Changbai Mountain, I didn't see Tianchi due to weather. This was the second time, but I didn't even get to go. Really no luck QAQ

Travel diary directory:

1. 📆 2021.9.19 Harbin

2. 📆 2021.9.20 Wudalianchi: Laohei Mountain - North Drinking Spring

3. 📆 2021.9.21 Wudalianchi: Wenpo - Yaoquan Mountain - White Dragon Cave

4. 📆 2021.9.22 Mudanjiang: Jingpo Gorge

5. 📆 2021.9.23 Mudanjiang: Jingpo Lake

Travel information

Hotel index

Strategy index

Ticket index

Website navigation

Travel index