A Trip to Harbin, Snow Village, and Rime Island
Harbin, an ice city, I had always wanted to experience the bitter cold of minus twenty to thirty degrees Celsius. On January 12, 2015, taking advantage of the winter break, my roommate and I set off on a journey to the northeast.
A few days before going to Harbin, I was struggling with what to wear to cope with the minus twenty to thirty degree temperatures. In the end, I decided to bring two down jackets, several thermal undershirts, and thermal pants. But it turned out that more than half of the clothes in my suitcase were never used. So for those of you planning to travel, dear friends, bring clothes in moderation—just wear what you would normally wear in winter. In northern winters, as long as your skin isn't exposed, even if you wear a bit less, it won't be too cold.
That evening, our flight was delayed by about three hours. By the time we arrived in Harbin, it was already night. The uncle and aunt who picked us up had been freezing outside for quite a while. As soon as I got off the plane and stepped into the jet bridge, I exhaled, and instantly a cloud of white cold air appeared. I thought, 'This is the right way to experience the northeast.'
Sitting in the car, I saw ice sculptures by the roadside and immediately felt the atmosphere of Harbin. By the time we reached the hotel, it was late at night. The heating in the hotel was very strong. Drinking a cup of hot water made me feel much more comfortable.
Since we came to Harbin, of course we had to visit Central Street. We tasted the local food and admired the Russian-style architecture.
Because our accommodation was not far from Central Street, we walked there. Due to the extremely low temperature, our phones were prone to shutting down, so we kept them inside our down jackets and only took them out when we needed to check the route. However, by the end of this northeastern trip, my phone battery had also bravely sacrificed itself—it probably couldn't adapt to the temperature here.
One of the more famous things on Central Street is the bread sold next to the Hualian Western Restaurant. By the time we arrived, there was already a long line. We chatted with an older man in front of us while queuing. He said the restaurant's dàlièbā (large Russian bread) was delicious and that he bought it every day. So the two of us, shivering from the cold, stood in line. When it became unbearable, we took turns going into a nearby shop to warm up. After waiting for a while, it was finally our turn. We bought several dàlièbā, even though before this we had no idea what dàlièbā was. Only after getting it did we realize it was a hard, baked bread. In the end, these loaves of bread got moldy after I brought them home, and I never ate them because they were too hard—I simply didn't know how to eat them. But perhaps that's the characteristic of Russian bread; at least we got a taste of it.
The most famous item is the Madi'er ice pops. Almost everyone who comes here buys one. These ice pops are stored in boxes without much packaging. The vanilla flavor is the best; at that time, they cost 5 yuan each. There are also packaged ones that are more expensive, but if you want the authentic taste, just get the 5-yuan ones.
After a couple of bites, I was shivering from the cold. I quickly found a bookstore to go in and warm up.
The bookstore had a nice display, quite reminiscent of Russian architecture.
Further ahead was the Songhua River. The river was covered with thick ice, and many horses and carts were running on it. I went out for a couple of spins, but I couldn't walk properly at all. The snow boots I bought on Central Street were actually very slippery—I fell with every step, spinning around on the ice. Haha, luckily I was wearing thick clothes, so it didn't hurt too much.
We went to this old Cangchun Pancake Shop and tried their spring pancakes, tendon pancakes, and side dishes. The taste was really good, so much so that over the next two days I visited the shop three or four times, just to remember the flavor. Personally, I think the tendon pancakes were better—chewy and springy. For the side dishes, just order a set meal. We ended up ordering duplicates. But the noodles in the north are indeed chewy.
On both sides of the street were ice sculptures, especially beautiful. The thermometer above showed minus thirty-something degrees. I guess we were quite tough.
Leaving Central Street, we went to the nearby Saint Sophia Cathedral. At night, illuminated by the lights, it was particularly beautiful.
Ice and Snow World is a major annual project in Harbin. The ice is taken from the Songhua River and is very thick; of course, it also consumes a lot of manpower and resources.
To ride the ice slide, we waited in line in the cold for two or three hours. I silently put on my sunglasses because I was afraid of getting snow blindness. Ice and Snow World is truly cold, because it's all ice, and the wind was biting while we waited. But to enjoy the attractions, we had to persevere.
Finally, it was my turn. I sat down and started sliding down. It was quite thrilling and super fun—very fast.
We waited in several more lines, skiing and ice skating, and had a great time.
We stayed there until nightfall. The night scenery was also very beautiful, with twinkling lights.
There was an activity in the middle area, and we joined in without really knowing what it was. The host led us in circling around and then taught us to dance the 'Little Apple' dance. Haha, my whole body warmed up from dancing.
We stayed inside for about seven or eight hours. I guess we were amazing—most people can't stay that long because it's truly cold inside.
Early the next morning, we took a shared ride to Snow Valley. I found the car online—there are many such options online. The reason we didn't go directly to Snow Village but first to Snow Valley was, first, because Snow Village has become commercialized now, and Snow Valley still looks like the original Snow Village; second, we planned to cross a mountain from Snow Valley to reach Snow Village. I thought this was a really cool way and would give us a genuine experience of climbing a snow mountain.
The road to Snow Valley was not easy. It was all snowy, and the surface was slippery from the cars. But the local drivers were bold—they must be used to such snowy roads. Turning at 80 km/h was truly thrilling, but I also admired the driver's skill.
When we arrived at Snow Valley, we found a place to stay. Many places here have heated brick beds (kang), heated below by electricity or firewood. The windows were double-glazed to keep out the cold. I specially prepared a bag of spicy sticks (latiao) and ate them while sitting on the kang. Eating latiao there felt like the ultimate delicacy.
The local people were simple and honest. Every household had a snowman. The popsicles in the small shop were placed directly in the snow for sale—self-serve and self-pay, relying on people's honesty.
In the evenings, there were some outdoor activities like bonfire parties and barbecues. Everyone could join. A group of travel enthusiasts gathered together to chat about life and dreams.
Early the next morning, the real snow mountain crossing began. As soon as we started climbing, I saw someone sitting on a sled pulled by two Alaskan Malamutes or Huskies. It was hilarious all the way. We saw the sled veer towards the cliff edge one moment and into the woods the next. By the time we passed her on foot, her sled was still spinning in place. She looked pretty scared. Haha, it really felt like paying to suffer.
The mountain paths were difficult to walk on. My shoes were also not up to the task—I kept falling every few steps. There were no stairs; the path was just a snow trail made by those ahead, and in many places the snow was very deep.
The uphill path became steeper and steeper. At one point, I was walking on tiptoes. Soon, my hair was covered in frost.
My face was also swollen from the cold; it felt like the skin had frozen stiff.
Along the way, I kept picking up branches to use as walking sticks to reduce the number of falls.
The descent was much easier—the road was flat, and I slid straight down. The whole climb took about seven or eight hours. I didn't dare to climb too fast, because sweating could lead to a cold. Fellow travelers, please also take note.
Snow Village at night was quite beautiful. You can take a look at this inn; the mushroom house on top was very pretty.
We had booked our kang bed half a month in advance, so it was relatively cheap. When we checked in, we found that walk-in prices had risen to over 1,000 yuan per kang space. So it's best to book accommodation in advance to prevent last-minute price hikes.
Early the next morning, we shared a ride to Jilin. The driver still turned at 80 km/h. Along the way, we saw several car accidents. I just want to say: unless you have very good driving skills, it's best not to drive yourself.
In Snow Village, frozen fruits were sold everywhere. I bought some to taste, but I didn't know how to eat them, so while they were still hard and frozen, I stuffed them into my mouth. I couldn't bite them at all, so I gave up and put them aside. I heard later that you need to thaw them on the kang before eating. I just had never seen such a thing. Hahaha.
The scenery along the road was nice—all snow.
When we arrived at the booked inn, it was already full, so we were assigned to another inn with slightly worse conditions.
However, the heating was strong—floor heating plus wall heating made it extremely hot. The Wi-Fi in the room was not very good, and I kept losing signal. So I kept going in and out of the room, busy putting on my coat, hat, scarf, then taking off my hat, scarf, coat.
Early in the morning, we walked along a small path to see Rime Island. The rime formed mainly because there is a power plant here; the hot water vapor condenses into rime. The path was lined with rows of trees, creating a beautiful rime scene.
After seeing the rime, we hurried to Jilin City to head back home.
Arriving in Jilin, we were arranged to share a table with others for an authentic northeastern hot pot meal. Objectively speaking, the taste was pretty good, and the lamb flavor was authentic.
We found a Hanting Hotel and drank some hot water there, feeling quite warm. The heating in the room was so strong that you could wear just a vest indoors. It snowed heavily outside; within half an hour, the entire ground was covered in deep snow. I truly felt the power of snow in the northeast.
I heard that Jilin's barbecue is delicious, so we found a barbecue place that evening. But the menu baffled us: what is 'Dry Skinny'? What is '70% Done'? And what is 'Marco Polo'? I didn't expect that the challenge of eating barbecue would be in reading the menu. In the end, we just ordered some lamb skewers, because that was the only thing we could understand. Haha, but the barbecue tasted good.
After several days of traveling in the northeast, I had a great time. However, both flights were delayed by two to three hours, and we arrived back late each time. You can choose daytime flights for a more relaxed schedule. As for clothes, just bring what you normally wear in winter. I wore a lot in the northeast, and after about five minutes of walking, I started sweating from the heat. As long as you cover all exposed parts of your body, even with thin gloves, it's fine.
The journey continues; we will keep moving forward....
Travel directory 1. Harbin Central Street 2. Ice and Snow World 3. Snow Valley 4. Crossing the Snow Mountain & Snow Village 5. Jilin Rime Island 6. Rime Island & Jilin City 7. Home
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