Harbin Ice Festival - Day 1

My bucket list while living in China is getting depleted and this was one of those activities that depleted it.  I've always wanted to go to Harbin and the ice/snow festival.  You maybe have seen a power point that floats around every now and then on the festival.

Simply put, bundle up as it gets damn cold!  Temps close to -30 degrees means lots and lots of layers.  Harbin is a northern China city of about 9 million people about 500km's from the Russian border.  So city wise you see lots of Russian influence in terms of buildings and even a bit on the food. 

The ice festival is GIGANTIC in terms of size.  Everything is made of ice, some of it many, many stories tall.  It's just amazing to think of the work that goes into it every year. 

One of the entryway's to the Ice festival

This was our group huddling up before entering the official areas

Yup all ice!

Frozen fruit on a stick anyone?

Unfortunately there is no way for a photographer of my skills to capture the true depth and enormity of the ice spectacle.

Guess who?  Gotta love the very warm Russian hat!

Beautiful!

There was a group of cartoon characters and people singing and dancing to "Gangnam Style"

If you look up and a bit left of center you will see the actual moon.

Me and my Harbin Beer!  Ice cold just like I like it!

The Angry Birds section.

Your truly in an Angry Birds costume.  Best part was watching the 20 or so Chinese folk taking my picture after they finally got me into this thing!

Awesome!  Next update our visit to the Snow Festival the next day as well as a trip to the Tiger park!