Hello Harbin

Ni Hao! I hope that everyone has been doing well back in America. We’ve got some great updates and pictures for you all…

I don’t even know where to begin to describe our trip to Harbin. Let’s just say it exceeded our expectations beyond belief. Harbin is so far north that it is practically on the boarder of Russia, which explains all of the fantastic Russian architecture. The entire city is an odd mix of Russian and Chinese culture. It didn’t feel like we were even in China at all! The entire weekend was around zero degrees Fahrenheit and even fell into the negatives late at night. And there was so much snow! It was the white Christmas we never got in Nanjing. But we were prepared for the weather. We all bought boots, long underwear, snow pants, and even hand and foot warmers that we placed inside our gloves and boots. But it was definitely cold! It was actually very similar to a bad winter in Wisconsin, so I felt right at home!

We stayed in a hostel that used to be a Jewish synagogue. It was absolutely beautiful and had three café’s/restaurants attached to it. How convenient! Those are the first pictures in our slideshow.

We got into Harbin early Thursday night and immediately ventured out to explore the city. We walked up and down the main drag the first night, looking at the Russian architecture and the fantastic ice sculptures that were all lit up. We stopped at a bar called USA Bucks that looks extremely interesting. This bar had really bizarre American antiques and paraphernalia covering every inch of the walls. And there were really odd pictures of the same Chinese guy in different military outfits with different women and in different places. The owner/manager of the bar was the guy in all the pictures and, luckily for us, he happened to be working that evening. He was wearing a cowboy hat and leather chaps, and proceeded to parade around the bar entertaining everyone. Apparently this guy loves America and he was hilarious. We started to talk with him briefly and I kept having this feeling that I had seen this place or this guy before… then it hit me. I saw him on the Anthony Bourdain show No Reservations on the Travel Channel last year! I was completely star struck! It was so cool to meet him! Here is the link to watch the video of him with Anthony Bourdain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrVec7p29nU&feature=&p=14F10043E4266F80&index=0&playnext=1

On Friday we headed out to find St. Sophia, a Russian Orthodox Church in the center of the city. It was really beautiful and so bizarre to see right next to neon Chinese lights. We then went to the river to check out the tubing, ice slides, sleigh rides, and other winter activities. We had a blast, although I think everyone’s butts were fairly sore by the end of the afternoon. Our next stop was an ice sculpture park in the center of the city near St. Sophia’s. It was not the main ice attraction in the city but it was a great place to start. That evening we went to a 5-star hotel to check out their ice bar. The entire bar was made out of ice! It was really cool but very cold and expensive.

(WARNING: The next paragraph might be too graphic for animal lovers or vegetarians. Sorry but it was too cool to pass up!)

Saturday was definitely the highlight of the trip. We spent the afternoon at the Siberian Tiger Park and it might be the coolest place in the world! The first part of the tour was on a bus that took us all through the park. The tigers actually came right up to the windows of the bus! I’ve never been so close to such a large, wild animal. The second part of the tour was a caged walkway where you could buy meat and live chickens to feed the tigers. You could even buy a whole cow but it was extremely expensive. We probably spend a few hundred yuan on raw meat just to feed the tigers and we even pitched in to buy a whole chicken. Thomas was in charge of managing the chicken. The longer he held onto it the more attached he got. He felt a bit bad sending it down to the tigers but it was really cool to see. Two tigers jumped up and instantly tore the chicken in half. It was over within seconds. It was like watching the discovery channel in real life! We have some really great close up pictures. But, you’ve been warned! Some of the pictures are pretty graphic!

The rest of the afternoon we spend at Harbin’s famous International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival! It was like Disney world made out of HUGE ice buildings and sculptures. We got there right before the sunset so we have pictures of the ice structures during the day as well as at night when they were all lit up. It was so cool to see. We all felt like little kids in a candy shop. It also had some pretty elaborate ice slides. By the time we left we were definitely cold and tired!

By Sunday we were iced out. We mustered up enough energy to head out for some traditional Harbin food. We tried Haws or Hawthorn fruit that are stacked on a skewer and covered in a sweet sauce. It was really good but very sugary and sweet. We also tired some Harbin smoked sausages. They were absolutely delicious! And of course we tried the famous Harbin beer, brewed right there in town. It is bar far the best Chinese beer available.

We got home late Sunday evening tired and happy. It was an awesome trip, but we are definitely ready for some sunny weather. There is more traveling, blogging, and pictures to come in the next month! Hopefully we can update you all while we are in Southeast Asia. We will do our best and write again soon!

Zai Jian!