Harbin

On my last weekend in China Devrim, Nick, Sheila, Dom, Habib, Aude, Rebecca and I all headed north toward the Russian border to a little town called Harbin. The trip to Harbin was probably my most enjoyable weekend away. I think it was a combination of good people, partying Russian style, extremely cold weather, amazing ice sculpture park and tiger feeding which made it such a memorable trip.

The fun started with drinking games on the train up, this was a sure recipe for feeling rough the morning the train arrived, but a quick nap followed by a hot pot lunch was perfect for setting us up for a big day. After lunch Sheila, Nick, Devrim and I went for a walk around town and then visited Harbin’s famous Russian restaurant. After a true Russian feast we ventured out to the ice sculpture festival. By the time we made it out to the festival it was night and the temperature had dropped to -32 degrees, it is difficult to imagine how cold -32 degrees feels until you experience it, after the vodka ran out our toes started to freeze up and we decided to head home (with a stopover at the Russian restaurant for a top-up... or for some of us a nap!)

The following day, we decided to take the advice from the Lonely Planet guide and head to the Harbin tiger park. From what I understand, the park was originally created to breed tigers for the purpose of boosting the wild tiger population. Recently, since there has been such a strong interest amongst tourists it has become more of an attraction. Ok, there is nothing really exciting about tigers but this place had edge! As well as taking a safari style bus ride through the park, you can also opt to purchase live animals to throw to them for a laugh. We all agreed that we didn’t make it all this way not to have a laugh, so we chipped in for a live sheep to be hunted! I like the discovery channel, but believe me when I say nothing compares to seeing the chase with your own eyes.