Winter in Harbin at the Famous Snow and Ice Festival

It is eye opening tobe that cold，andto see how peoplehave managed tobuild a liveableenvironment in a place so cold.

Winter in China is afasanating time-especiallyfor those of us comingfrom moderate WesternEuropean climates， winter in China'snorth is eye opening. The first winter Ispent in Beijing I planned to go to Harbinfor the winter break， to visit the worldfamous ice and snow festival. My parents，who live in the Netherlands， always toldme about the festival， as it is always a hottopic on the local news. Every year theDutch news reports on the Harbin snowfestival， as do many other local Europeannews channels. Nothing like it has everexisted in Europe.

To me， Harbin during winter wasa terrifying idea due to the extreme cold.Temperatures of around -30 degreescelcius were beyond myimagination， andthat was another reason why I wanted togo to Harbin. It is also another reasonwhy I love traveling in China-theextremes. Due to the sheer size of China，traveling from east to west and north tosouth demonstrate complete differencesin cultures， languages， landscape，temperatures and climates. This is notsomething anyone from Western Europecan say about their country， especially notthe Netherlands， where traveling fromNorth to South across the entire countryonly takes a few hours.

Preparing _for my trip to Harbinwasn't too hard. I went to a few differentshops and bought everything that lookedwarm， twice. I was planning on wearingat least two layers of thermals， leggingsand then trousers， as well as extra warmlayers on top， and fleece jumpers， asmany as I could fit. And also a skijacketto top it all off Getting on the train washard， as the layers of clothing made ithard to maneuver without bumping intoeverybody on the train.

Getting off the train， you instantlyfeel just how cold it is. The cold makesit hard to breathe. However， with agood layer of clothes it was definitelymanageable， as long as you take regularbreaks in restaurants or shops， and aren'tplanning on running a marathon， or someother kind of sport that requires exertion.

One of our first activities was tovisit the Siberian Tiger Park， whichwas incredible. There aren't manyopportunities in ourlives to see these hugeanimals， especiallyin their natural habitat.There were a lot of other animals here，too. We even bought a live chicken andthrew it into the cage-a little bit intensefor me， but the friend I was traveling withreally wanted to do it. That is definitelysomething we could never do in a zoo oranimal park at home. The Siberian Tigerreally enjoyed the afternoon snack...

The next day it was time to visit theice statues that had made the news aroundthe entire world. We were dropped offand immediately saw the beautifully litstatues and structures built carefully out ofindividual ice blocks. There were castles，temples， and buildings with influencesfrom different countries， sponsored bydifferent institutions. The bigger oneseven had slides， making our visit to thepark a very enjoyable， albeit cold one.

We even had another day to visitthe snow sculpture park， which displayedsome of China's best snow art. Walkingaround here was amazing， especially asI come from a country where snow is solight and dirty that it generally disappearsinstantly. The Netherlands never hasenough snow or ice to pull anything likethis off.

I would love to visit Harbin againin summer， as some of the architectureis very impressive and I loved seeing theRussian influence. Harbin's buildings varya lot from those in Beijing， Shanghai，or Tianjin. For example the SophiaCathedral， which is verydifferent even when comparedto Wangfujing's Cathedral inBeijing， as it carries a lot moreRussian Orthodox influence.

I reckon a visit to Harbinin winter is worth it - especiallyfor foreigners living in Chinatemporarily， you have to go see itat least once. Maybe even twice，depending on how keen you areon ice， snow， and cold toes. It iseye opening to be that cold， andto see how people have managedto build a liveable environmentin a place so cold. However， it'sterrifying to think that there arestill cities even further north，where the mercury dips evenlower during the long wintermonths.