Last month, when l told my friends that l would be going to Harbin, China, some of them asked, “Are you sure you can stand the extreme cold temperature there?”, while others reminded me to be well-equipped with all the winter wears and necessities.
The tour leader from a local travel agency in Kuching, Jennifer Chai explained that there are two seasons that are considered the best times to visit Harbin. The most popular is during winter, where the main attractions are the outdoor ice and snow festival showcasing ice and snow sculptures and other winter-related activities.
Alternatively, the autumn season is ideal for those who want to avoid the extremely cold weather, but prefer to enjoy the scenery formed by the change in colour of leaves and be mesmerised by the mood of autumn through the falling leaves.
As some of us in the planned tour group were senior citizens, we took the autumn trip at the beginning of October, which is almost the end of the autumn season.
However, three days before departure, our tour leader told us that according to the weather forecast from China, the the temperature in Harbin was expected to take a plunge between six degrees and minus two degrees on certain days.
This was due to the unexpected arrival of cold wind. She warned us to bring along the full set of winter attires, including thermal wears, thick clothes, winter jackets, scarves, winter hats and the likes. Upon arrival at the airport in the evening at Harbin, the weather was really cold, so we put them on immediately.
Ice and Snow Festival
The prime attraction of Harbin is the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival that opens around December 24 and last to the end of February.
The festival includes many interesting activities and events, such as ice and snow sculptures competitions, ice lantern show, and the Snow World Sports which include skiing, ice football, skating and many other international sports events.
As we were having our tour in autumn, we had to compromise with a smaller version of it at the Sun Island Indoor Ice Sculpture exhibition.
Here we could see sculptures of all shapes and sizes, crafted by skillful ice sculptors. The sculptures takes shape in various forms, ranging from buildings such as traditional temples, Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, animals, vehicles, statues of Buddha and Goddess Guan Yin, Disney cartoon figures and many more.
The Russian Connection
Travelling through the streets of Harbin city, I, for once, thought that I had mistakenly landed in Russia instead of China, as many of the shophouses and other buildings are well decorated with European and Russian architectural designs. This made me recall vividly my experience in Moscow and St. Petersburg cities in Russia which I visited few years ago.
Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, grew from a small rural settlement on the Songhua River to become one of the largest cities in Northeast China.
“Harbin, which is located at the boundary of China and Russia, has strong Russian influence, not only because of its closeness to Russia, but because it was once ruled by Russia from 1889 till the 1920’s. Other reasons include active mutual trading between the two countries via Harbin, inter-marriage (mainly Russian women married to Chinese men), as well as Russian coming in as tourists, especially during the summer holiday”, explained Elena.
In 1896, China granted a construction concession to Russia to build the China Eastern Railway. Thus, thousands of Russian engineers, railway builders, employees, army and their families came to Harbin to work on the railway. They also brought along building materials, furnitures and personal items from their homeland, not to mention the Russian architecture designs and culture which included arts and crafts, food, clothing, fashion and every aspect of Russian life, over to Harbin.
The most prominent landmark building in the city of Harbin with Russian design is the St. Sophia’s Church, which was built by the Russian Army in 1907. Typical of Byzantine architecture with a magnificent dome, the Church is 53.35 metres high, towering above the skyline of the city. Covered with red brick walls, it has a floor area of 721 square metres, located in a park setting known as the Sophia Square. It is a popular tourist attraction, a mandatory stop for photos.
