On The Go Tours
For lovers of a cold festive season and fans of The Narnia Chronicles or Frozen there is no place on earth which matches Harbin in China, for the magical world it creates with ice.
During the festive season Harbin brings fantasy frozen lands to life at The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival which encompass four theme parks; Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo, Harbin Ice and Snow World, Songhua River Ice and Snow Harbin Valley, and the Zhaolin Park Ice Lantern Fair. Now in its 33rd year the festival, which takes place from January 5th to mid-February, will use over 330,000 cubic metres of ice taken from the Songhua River.
Forget Lapland or the Alps, Harbin is the world’s best kept snowy secret and here’s ten reasons to put it on your New Year’s Bucket List:
1. Making the top five largest ice and snow festivals in the world, the Harbin Ice Festival is a vast winter wonderland with oodles to explore. The festival covers 750,000 sqm, made up of various themes from renditions of iconic architectural wonders to quirky dream like creations that would make Tim Burton proud. 2. You will encounter some of the tallest ice carvings ever made like the Crystal Castle – a sculpture from the 2015 festival which stood at 48 metres. 3. Contrary to China’s industrial legacy, everything at the Festival is made by hand, roughly 15,000 pairs of hands, or from scratch using lasers so each sculpture is unique. 4. At night you will be transported to a technicolour world of light as colourful lanterns and lights create spectrums of colour through the crystal clear ice. 5. You can throw the rules out of the window and slide down The Great Wall of China, or other wonders of the world, for an adrenaline rush without the consequences! 6. You can climb, clamber, sail and frolic on or over replicas of China’s most inspiring moments and attractions such as climbing the turrets of the Emperor’s Summer Palace in Beijing or sailing away on Empress Dowager Cixi’s ice marble boat. 7. You can travel the world one ice sculpture at a time with iconic monuments such as the Kremlin or the Hallgrimskirkja church in Reykjavon show. 8. It’s never too cold for ice cream! Despite below freezing temperatures, locals and tourists alike line up to enjoy traditional ice cream which consists of a popsicle with a sweetened milky flavour. 9. You can expand your appreciation of art as China embraces a hearty dash of surrealism to create sublime and quirky sculptures.
10. You can test your body to the limits by diving into a pool carved from ice and even race other swimmers in one of the most unique swimming races on the planet.
To help you navigate your way through the icy labyrinths On the Go Tours have some incredible tours, which feature all of Harbin’s frozen highlights and toasts the New Year in style with a glass of local ‘Maitai Firewater’. www.onthegotours.com/China
Harbin Ice Festival
11 days | Starts/Ends: Beijing | from NZD $3,559 | Guaranteed Departure Discover China this Christmas to see the Great Wall, Beijing’s Forbidden City and the Terracotta Warriors of Xi’an. Flying to Harbin, New Year’s is a 5 star event as we discover the extraordinary, inspiring, enchanting and often incredibly beautiful ice installations of the 33rd Harbin International Ice & Snow Festival.
Harbin Ice Festival Express
5 Days | Starts/Ends: Beijing | from NZD $2,499 Let it snow! See the world’s largest and most elaborate ice sculptures this New Year at the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival. Magical, other-worldly and with New Year’s Eve spent exploring the brilliantly illuminated Ice Lantern Show in Zhaolin Park, this is a holiday like no other.