I had the pleasure to visit Harbin, China’s most northern town – its name is deviated from the Manchu word for “a place for drying fishing nets”. Well they definitely freeze there!
Its just 200km from the Russian border, and the 48 hours I spent in Manchuria provided some valuable experiences:
– Realized that -27C is way too cold for sightseeing
– Fed chicken breast to a tiger is fun
– Felt like in Siberia when crossing the frozen kilometre wide, windy Shongza River
– Ice Sculptures can be used for any kind of marketing – Beer Bottles, Disneyland,….
– Local cabs stop to take on more passengers, however you are still required to pay the full amount though
– Jumping out of a cab on a highway is not a good idea
– How the hell did the chinese come up with a “Barbapapa” cartoon snow sculpture?
– Nobody speaks any English… but Russian is definitely helpful
&
last but not least, it was my first trip with my new travel buddy “Tim”, more on him shortly
A few shots before the camera battery gave up to the cold:
