Joyous Harbin IV: Harbin’s Landmark--St. Sophia Church

Mentioning of Harbin,you may think of the International Ice and Snow Festival and the Yabuli International Ski Resort have been talked about in the last articles. And, the Harbin’s Landmark-St. Sophia Orthodox Cathedral, which will be talk about in the chapter, you may be interested in it.

                                                                  Chapter Four


         Harbin’s Landmark--St. Sophia Church

St. Sophia Orthodox Cathedral in Harbin is one of the most splendid buildings in northern China and it is the largest Eastern Orthodox Church in the Far East. The church is located on the corner of Toulin Street (Toulin jie) and Zhaolin Street (Zhaolin jie). It is 53.3 meters (175 feet) high and occupies an area of 721 square meters (0.18 acres). In November, 1996, it was listed as one of the Key Cultural Relics under State Protection. 

St. Sophia Church: Yesterday & Today

St. Sophia Church has a complex history. It was built and completed in March, 1907 as part of a plan to reconsolidate the confidence of the army by building an imposing spiritual symbol. In 1921, Harbin had a population of 300,000, including 100,000 Russians. The church was expanded and renovated from September 23, 1923, when a ceremony was held to celebrate the laying of the cornerstone, to its completion on November 25, 1932, after nine years. --The moment it was finished, it had been the landmark of Harbin by its grand and magnificent appearance and exotic atmosphere.

St. Sophia Church

By the 1990's, St. Sophia had undergone considerable decline. The church no longer was in use, and residential apartments and office buildings surrounded it. Magnificent Russian painted murals that adorned the church's arched walls were destroyed out of recognition. 

While in 1997, the local government under took to undo the decades of deterioration. But as the original Russian murals were lost completely, they were replaced by topically new murals depicting the architectural history of the Harbin community. And crosses that were removed in six places were replaced. Now, the murals, pendent lamps, dome and the bell tower are restored to their original splendor.

At present day, St. Sophia Church was hailed as a monumental work of art and the largest Orthodox Church in the Far East. It’s now an art gallery, displaying the history, current situation and future of this famous cultural city of Harbin with over 1000 pictures. --It is a popular tourist spot in the city attracting visitors home and abroad as well as a key historical site for the research of modern history of Harbin. 

St. Sophia Church: Architectural features & Adornments

The Byzantine style church is so beautiful, it is said to look as if it had been made by God's hands. In fact, St. Sophia means 'God's wisdom'. Under the bright sun, the church and the square area it lies on looks quite like the Red Square in Moscow.

Inner of St.Sophia Church

The church was beautiful designed and decorated both in exterior and interior. The splendid church is designed to be a cross-shape in the east-west direction and its walls are covered by red bricks. It is a master-slave layout that a big green Byzantine spherical pinnacle commands four smaller tent-shaped pinnacles in typical Russian style. 

There are four floors and each is accessible by a door in the four respective directions. The top part of the main entrance is the bell tower houses 7 bells of totally different sizes and tones, the biggest one of which was molded by bell metal with a diameter of 1.425 meter and weight in 1.8 ton. In the middle of the bell, there are four saints. On every major feast day in the past, the well-trained bellman would tie the ropes of the 7 mallets to different parts of his hands and feet to play musical progressions. It is said that the clangs can resound to the skies and people even in dozens of kilometers away can hear it. 

Though the interior decorations and the gorgeous Russia painted murals were damaged because of wars and time, the architecture is still beautiful and spectacular as it used to be. The government has refurbished it and new murals were readorned depicting the architectural history of Harbin community. 

--All in all, St. Sophia Church is worth of traveling. How can you leave Harbin without visiting its landmark? The art of the church will really attract your interests and let you appreciate the real Russian style. Dears, what’s your affection of St. Sophia Church?

Joyous Harbin III: Fun on Ski: Harbin Yabuli International Ski Resort

In the last article, we have talked about the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, one of the pageants in Harbin in winter. Have you been there? Now, whether you have enjoyed it, there is another entertainment you must can not miss-Harbin Yabuli International Ski Resort.

Chapter Three

   Fun on Ski: Harbin Yabuli International Ski Resort

The Yabuli International Ski Resort, the biggest and best ski resort in China, is 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Harbin and 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Mudanjiang in Shangzhi City, Heilongjiang Province. 

The resort provides great skiing with high mountains and good snow. Local skiers enjoy the high elevation and the fact that the snow is neither too hard nor too powdery. The lowest temperature is -47.2°F. Because of the high elevation, snow falls for a long period of about 170 days. The period from November to late March of the next year is the best time to ski at Yabuli Ski Resort.

The resort is the biggest training centre for alpine skiers and the mountain hosts of many professional skiing competitions. In 1996 the 3rd Winter Asian Games was held here along with numerous the National Winter Games and other national and provincial competitions.

Yabuli International Ski Resort

The ski resort includes two distinctive areas: the competitive section and the leisure skiing section. The alpine competitive skiing section reaches an altitude of 1,374 meters (approx. 4,508 feet). Built according to international standard, this section provides an excellent environment for professional skiers. In the leisure skiing section, the highest altitude is only about 1,000 meters (approx. 3,281 feet), and the area provides a comparatively safe environment for leisure skiing. 

There is also a German built slide where tourists can enjoy sliding down from the top of the snowy mountain. Doing skiing on the slide is easy and safe, bringing visitors a thrilling experience.

Besides skiing, visitors can also take advantage of the other entertainment facilities at the resort, such as the mini golf course, tennis court, turf courts, hot-air balloons, para-gliders among others. The combination of activities, the beautiful forest and comfortable facilities offer tourists a relaxing and fun vacation. In winter, the ski resort is a fantastic place for skiers; in summer tourists can escape the heat and enjoy fun outdoor activities. All year round the resort offers beautiful scenery.

Xin TiWei Resort

Basically, there are two main resorts worth visiting, Sun Mountain and Xin TiWei. The two mountains are literally side by side, and equally tall, but Sun Mountain is by far the better of the two. Some websites may tell you that TiWei is the best, but this is simply not true. TiWei is considerably cheaper, but you will not regret the extra expense of Sun Mountain.  

Sun Mountain has far better rental equipment, more trails, a better snowboard park, nicer facilities, better service, and better snow. Beginners may saving money at TiWei, but experienced skiers/boarders should head directly to Sun Mountain. Sun Mountain even has English-speaking trainers available. Sun Mountain is affiliated with Club Med hotel, but you don’t need to be a hotel guest to ski there.

At TiWei, if you’re an experienced skier/boarder, be sure to specify that you want the “advanced ticket”.  Beginners can pay a lower price, but you are limited to only the bottom portion of the mountain. There is accommodation available at all price ranges.    

Facilities of Yabuli Ski Resort

Yabuli Ski Resort has 6 snow-grooming machines that ensure an optimal powder consistency on the surface of the various pistes at all times, another factor that puts this particular ski resort in a class by itself. The skiing season at Yabuli Ski Resort begins in mid-November and runs until the end of March. 

Ski Runs

Yabuli Ski Resort has 9 intermediate- to advanced-level Alpine pistes, a 5-kilometer Nordic trail and a 500-meter gentle Alpine slope for beginners. The resort's prime advanced-level Alpine piste measures some 3 kilometers (3000 plus meters) with a vertical drop of an impressive 805 meters, which makes this the longest – and most exhilarating – Alpine ski piste in all of Asia (it should be noted that the ski resort is divided into a competition and a leisure section, the former being restricted to domestic and foreign professional (i.e., national-team) skiers). 

The ski resort employs more than half-hundred ski instructors, and though not all of the ski instructors are fluent in English, they are all reputed to be knowledgeable, and very thorough in their tutoring. 

The resort has 9 ski lifts, more than enough to ferry skiers to their various destinations without having to wait in long queues. Visitors say that the old adage about 'getting there being half the fun' has never been more true than in the case of the trip up Yabuli Sun Mountain in one of Yabuli Ski Resort's ski lifts: the views are spectacular as the visitor ascends alongside ridges and ravines, looking out over a forest of snow-clad trees.

Accommodation on Yabuli Ski Resort

Windmill Village

Yabuli Ski Resort is a hyper-modern facility with all that the visitor can desire in the way of bars, restaurants and lodgings, as well as in the way of ski and other winter-sport rental facilities. Besides catering to skiers, the resort has facilities for snowboarding, ice skating and tobogganing – in fact, Yabuli Toboggan Run is the world's longest. 

The ski resort incorporates a number of hotels and bed & breakfast establishments with, in all, over 600 beds. Even cheaper accommodations can be found in the town of Yabuli itself. The ski resort's two 3-star hotels, the Windmill Village and the Tinyihu, have between them some 300 beds. These two hotels offer all the latest conveniences, from indoor swimming pools to fitness rooms and billiard halls to Internet cafés, bars, gift shops, restaurants, play rooms for kids – even a full-sized bowling alley – and the hotel rooms naturally come equipped with cable TV.

In the off-season, from late spring to autumn, there are a number of other activities on offer at Yabuli Ski Resort such as "grass skiing", tennis, mini-golf, hot-air ballooning and para-gliding, and then there is the stunning nature of Yabuli Sun Mountain itself, as well as that of the greater Changbai Mountain Range, where the stealthy visitor just might be lucky enough to spot bears, deer, leopards, tigers and wild boars, while just about every visitor will run across hares, pheasants, squirrels – and birds, birds, birds – not to speak of the chance, after-dark spotting of a badger.

Travel Tips on Yabuli Ski Resort

1. Weather condition in Yabuli: Yabuli's winter weather and large amount of snowfall has resulted in the best snow quality in China. The lowest temperature in winter is 44 degrees below zero and the average temperature is 10 degrees below zero. The average snowfall is 20-50cm at lower part of the mountain, 100cm at the top of the mountain. Ski season in Yabuli begins from the middle of November and ends in late March.

2. Protect your skin from the sun and wind. Winter is not only cold but harsh and brutal to your skin. Add up wind, cold weather and UV rays that reflect off the white snow back onto your face. Take hot shower however take it for short periods only as it tend to take away the natural oils and lipids from the skin's surface leaving it dry as bone. Bring some oily skin care products would be very useful.

Enjoy Your Happy Family Times

3. Opening Hours: Daily, 08:00-16:30 (from November to March) The opening time for the ski resort is from 8:00am to 4:30pm(depending on the weather condition on the day). Normally it is getting dark around 4pm to 4:30pm. It is highly suggested that you get up early in the morning to enjoy skiing and then get your lunch around 1pm and have a rest in the afternoon.

4. How to get the Yabuli: There is no airport around Yabuli Ski Resort. Harbin and Mudanjiang are the two nearest cities with airports connecting major cities in China. Harbin Taiping International Airport is about 45 kilometer from downtown area Harbin, you can take the shuttle bus for about 50 minutes from the airport to Harbin train station and take train to Yabuli.

--By Bus: There are a number of tourist trains daily to the resort from Harbin, taking about 3 hours. After arriving at the town, mini tourist buses will transfer you to the tourist resort.

--By Train: To reach there, via public transportation, you can take D61, D63, T479 or T481 train from the Harbin Train Station to the Yabuli Train Station. Once at the train station, take a bus to the skiing resort. There are two railway stations in Yabuli - Yabuli Railway Station and Yabuli Railway South Station. Yabuli Railway Station is located in Yabuli Township while Yabuli Railway South Station located at Yabuli Ski Resort. 

5. Food in Yabuli: The food in Yabuli ski resort in limited, most of them are available in the hotels only. However you can also taste original northeast food at some local restaurant providing local vegetables and meat such as deer meat hot pot, typical northeast China dumpling, sliced pork, sour cabbage and rice noodles. 

--In a word, thrilling Harbin Yabuli International Ski Resort is an ideal place to experience stimulating activities on the ski. This special kind of sport will give you a memorable exciting experience in a beautiful white snow world!

Joyous Harbin II: 2013 Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival

In the last article, we have talked about the overview of Harbin, I think you should understand something about the ice city. And now, there is a solemn festival is held in Harbin-the 29th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival. Come on and enjoy the ice  fairyland.

                                                           Chapter Two


2013 Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival

Time: January 5th-Febuary 5th, 2013   
Place: Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
Main Exhibition Areas: Sun Island & Ice and Snow World & Zhaolin Park
Activity: fantastic and artistic ice-lantern show, great fun of varied games with ice--ice-skating, sled-playing, ice-boating, winter-swimming, etc.

Harbin, the capital of China's now-frozen northeastern Heilongjiang province is holding its annual International Ice and Snow Festival. The Harbin festival is one of the world's four largest ice and snow festivals, along with Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada's Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway's Ski Festival.

Harbin is located in Northeast China under the direct influence of the cold winter wind from Siberia. The average temperature in summer is 21.2 degrees Celsius, -16.8 degrees Celsius in winter. Annual low temperatures below -35°C are not uncommon.

Overview of the Ice World

With a 190-day freezing season, the northeastern city of Harbin is known as a "City of Ice" and a cradle of the ice-and-snow culture in the world. The long and frigid winter, and the high plasticity and hardness of ice blocks quarried from the Songhua River, furnish favorable conditions for ice and snow sculpture. 

On January 5, 1985, the first Harbin Ice and Snow Festival were unveiled. Since then it has become an annual event from January 5 - February 5, which is highly acclaimed around the world. 

Harbin's annual ice festival is now in its 29th year. The festival features ice and snow carnival; international ice sculptures competitions in the Sun Island; ice lantern exhibition in the parks; speed skating, cross-field skiing and Alpine skiing competitions in the Yabuli Ski Resort or other famous ski resorts; fishing on the icy lakes and rivers; winter swimming in the Songhua River; ice and snow film art festival; exhibitions of paintings, calligraphy and photos; performances of folk songs and dances; wedding ceremonies on ice; economic and trade talks; commodities fairs and trade fairs etc.

The "Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival" is known as one of the most important tourist highlights in China. For years, it has been a Mecca for thousands upon thousands of world's tourists.

For instance, Zhaolin Park, one of the major venues for the festival, is turned into a Disney wonderland with ice sculptures of Mickey and his friends from classic Disney animation films. You can take a tour around the ice castles of Sleeping Beauty and have fun sliding down from the top of Aladdin's tower. 

One-day Fun of Ice and Snow Festival

From the city, there are several ways to get to the festival. If you are trying to do everything in a day, start with lunch and a stroll along Zhongyang Dajie. This pedestrian-only street is the heart of the city's Russian legacy, with interesting shops and food.

Ice Sculptures Castle

An hour in the Ice and Snow World leaves most travelers chilled to the bone. A dinner of hot pot can never seem more welcome. Cai Zhen Ji hot pot restaurant serves up the style and selections of Beijing's Ding Ding Xiang, but at second-tier city prices. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So, when in Harbin, remember to order plenty of Harbin Beer and baijiu for endless rounds of toasts with friends.

About three blocks to the east is the Church of St Sophia, a lovely red-brick Russian Orthodox landmark with a distinctive green "onion" dome. The inside is now an architecture museum.

While there is still daylight left, take a quick taxi ride across the Songhua River to Sun Island Park. Go to the snow sculpture park first and see the huge and amazingly life-like reproductions of folk musicians, heroes of China, including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, temples, gates, archways and other structures big enough to step through and explore. 

Then at twilight, head for the ice venue. At night the ice park glitters in colored lights like a kaleidoscope, and visitors can skate, play hockey or watch a figure-skating show as well as gawk at the huge ice city.

When night falls, a winter wonderland comes to life. The main attraction this time of the year is the Ice and Snow World, where ice sculptures are set across a large park area just north of the Songhua River. Giant blocks of ice are farmed from the river, hauled to the site, and built into world landmarks familiar to the frequent traveler.

When you have tired of gaping at the sculptures with awe, or of rubbing your hands and stomping feet to stay warm, head to the many igloo tea shops scattered around the park. Other attractions include ice slides several stories tall, dance and music shows, and cheesy photo ops with snow foxes.

Besides, winter swimming has been a longstanding Harbin tradition, drawing many enthusiasts who rave about the health benefits of polar plunging into -30°C waters. The less adventurous can stand on the sidelines and watch as middle-aged swimmers strut their stuff on the frozen surface of Songhua River before diving off a platform made of, you guessed it, blocks of ice.

Exhibition Place 1: Sun Island Park

Sun Island Park covers 15 square kilometers and is featured by cultural attractions and natural landscapes. Sun Island Park consists of one big island and some smaller islands in the Songhua River, which meander through the north of Harbin. It covers a total area of 3,800 hectares.

Sun Island Park

In summer, the island serves as a natural river beach swimming resort and sanatorium area. The island boasts several fine beaches on either bank, such as a profusion of lakes for boating, swimming pools, sunbathing facilities, a fairground, a water world and an arms museum. The middle and northern part of the island is composed of mainly forested areas and a large garden.

Various differently styled recreational buildings were built around the “Sun Lake” and the "Lotus Pond". With hidden paths winding throughout, the park is a nice area to stroll and get away from the crowds, being lushly vegetated with trees and flowers. Barbecues and picnics can also be arranged in one of the meadows here. During winter, the Sun Island is used as the playground for various winter sports; Skiing, Hockey, Ice-skating, and Sledding games. What is more important, the renowned annual Snow Carving Festival is held here.

 Exhibition Place 2: Harbin Ice and Snow World

First set-up by the Harbin Municipal Government in 1999, Harbin Ice and Snow World is by far the largest ice and snow art exhibition in the world. It is commonly referred to as possessing four of the key 'mosts': the most art attractions, the most beautiful night views, the most recreational activities and the most forms of entertainment. Furthermore, the festival is constantly evolving and each year brings with it a new theme, providing visitors with a totally unique experience from one year to the next.

Beautiful Moon

The ice carvings at the Ice and Snow World are regarded as some of the world's finest examples of ice art, with visitors able to admire some of the largest and most majestic ice-sculpted masterpieces. Each of these ice carvings is designed in some way related to the festival's theme, enabling travelers to sample a variety of cultural flavors. 

For example, in its first year the festival's layout was designed around the idea of 'Prosperous China and High-flying Longjiang', with the ice carvings depicting the rapid development of the country. In 2005, the theme was 'Friendship between China and Russia', with all the sculptures fashioned in a typical Russian style. Among them were replicas of some of Russia's most famous architecture, such as the East Palace, and Moscow's Red Square.

One of the highlights for any visitor to the festival is to visit the site at night when multicolored lights set underground illuminate the sculptures, revealing a whole new colorful dimension to the exhibits. The contrasts of the bright and dazzling lights against the dark night sky make the works look all the more spectacular.

The Ice and Snow World is also a centre for various forms of recreation and entertainment, with a variety of opportunities on offer. Visitors will be amazed by the magnificent ice buildings, including an ice maze, ice bar, and even an ice hotel. If you are a fan of snow sports, then there is also the chance to participate in activities such as ice rock-climbing, skating, skiing, sliding, snow fights, ice golf, and ice archery. 

Exhibition Place 3: Harbin Zhaolin Park

Harbin Zhaolin Park was situated in the busy center of the city, faced on to a street along the beautiful Songhua River bank. 

Under unique climatic conditions, Zhaolin Park has two characteristic natural scenes in summer and winter. In summer, the pleasant outlook is composed of flourishing greenery and fragrant-grass, while flowers in full blossom competing with each other for beauty of looks.  The small gardens in it have unique styles, such as "northern garden", "reflecting-moonshine garden", "southern greenhouse", "clove garden", luring you with their charming and beauty. 

Zhaolin Park

In winter, Zhaolin Park is a world of ice lantern. The world-famous ice lantern garden party is held here every year for many times. When night falls, the resplendence and multicolor of ice lanterns are full of the whole park. The vivid and peculiar ice lanterns are adopted by modern technologies, such as sound, light and automation. 

The design of ice lanterns includes the beautiful sceneries in the world and modern and ancient marvelous spectacles. Placing yourself in such a supernatural ice-snow world, you will enjoy yourself so much as to forget to leave. Millions of visitors are attracted to this garden party by its reputation as a scenic spot: they enjoy the marvel and magnificence of ice-and-snow in the north of China, as well as, in a fairyland.