Harbin will host the 40th International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in 2024. Its official opening date is scheduled on January 5, 2024. From December 20, 2023 to early March of 2024, exhibitions of ice and snow sculptures, kept pristine by subzero temperatures, are dotted across multiple locations. The biggest – and priciest to attend – is the 25th Harbin Ice and Snow World, which features the flashiest and most neck-craning sculptures, ice castles, ice slides, giant ferris wheel, night shows and many interesting ice activities. For a less hectic experience there are exhibitions at the 36th Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo and the 50th Ice Lantern Fair at Zhaolin Park. Some other great events of 2024 Harbin Ice Festival will include the 4th Ice Lantern Show at Rongchuang Amusement Park, the 4th Harbin Songhua River Ice and Snow Carnival, the 5th Ice Collecting Festival on Songhua River, and the 21st Yabuli Skiing Festival in Yabuli Town. In winter, the temperature of Harbin can drop as low as -35 °C, so down-lined jackets, thick gloves and even balaclavas are recommended if you plan on ogling the ice art.
3-day Harbin Ice Festival Tour
5-day Unforgettable Harbin and China's Snow Town Tour
6-day Harbin China's Snow Town and Yabuli Ski Tour
4-day Harbin Ice Festival Highlights Tour
4-day Harbin Ice and Snow World & Jihua Ski Resort Tour
7-day Essential Beijing and Harbin Ice Festival Tour
4-day Harbin Ice Festival & Chagan Lake Winter Fishing Tour
Harbin Ice and Snow World: A must-see attraction in winter in Harbin. It is the most important theme park of the ice festival. This wonderland where large ice buildings and statues constructed with lights inside that make them glow Harbin. In the park, visitor can watch performances, films...and do a lot of interesting ice and snow activities, such as snowtubing, snowsliding, snowbiking...
Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo: This annual expo features massive and beautifully carved sculptures of snow. Heilongjiang Province Snow Sculpture Competition, China National Snow Sculpture Competition, International Snow Sculpture Competition are held in the venue of the expo every year.
Zhaolin Park: Harbin's Ice Lantern Festival was firstly held in this downtown park in 1963. Zhaolin park still organizes an fantastic ice lantern fair each year.
Rongchuang Amusement Park: A theme park features amusement activities, ice lantern show, and skiing.
Saint Sophia Church: Built in 1903,this Orthodox church is a wonderful example of Russian Architecture.
Siberian Tiger Park: The park has several large caged areas where the tigers and lions roam freely and live as they would in their natural environment. Visitors can enter these caged areas in a specially designed van with large windows to get a look at these beautiful beasts.
Harbin Polarland: This famous aquarium housing penguins, whales, polar bears, seals, dolphins, and wolves and foxes. Seal and whales performances are organized every day.
Russian Architecture: Blessed with grace and character, the city is renowned for its unique, Russian-influenced architecture. Remnants from the days when Harbin was a crucial stop on the Russian Manchurian Railroad, the dome-shaped structures are nostalgic throwbacks to pre-revolutionary Russia. The strong Russian flavor continues to permeate the city today due to burgeoning trade and tourism between Harbin and Russia.
Volga Manor: A Russian culture theme garden, complete and full of exotic manor. The manor has beautiful scenery, with large gardens, Russian style buildings, churches, museums, and tidal flat wetland. In the manor, you can find some Russian culture shows and winter activities.
Jewish Sites: Harbin have many historic Jewish buildings and sites including hospital, bank, church, cemetery, business Hong, synagogue, kitchen, school, and assembly hall etc. We (Ice Festival Harbin) have designed tour packages with some Jewish sites for tourists who are interested in the Jews who live in Harbin in the 1930s.
Central Street: Pedestrian only street, a perfect remnant of the bustling international business activities at the turn of the 20th century. The 1.4-km long street is a veritable museum of European architectural styles, including Baroque and Byzantine facades, Jewish architectural wonders, little Russian bakeries, French fashion houses, American snack food outlets, and Japanese restaurants.
Stalin Park: It is a Soviet-era landscaped park on the bank of the Songhua River with statues and the famous icon building - Harbin Flood Control Monument (Harbin People Flood Control Success Memorial Tower). During the ice festival, tourists can find many interesting ice activities on the nearby frozen Songhua River.
Heilongjiang Provincial Museum: It is a research center for scholars and a popular place to enjoy the exhibits and to learn about history in Harbin.
Gogol Street: Harbin's second biggest shopping district dotted with Russian buildings. A tram track is still preserved in the center of the road. The street is named after Nikolay (Vasilyevich) Gogol (1809 -1852), great Russian novelist, dramatist, satirist, founder of the so-called critical realism in Russian literature, best-known for his novel MERTVYE DUSHI I-II (1842, Dead Souls).
Chinese Baroque Street (aka Lao Daowai): The street is known for its high historic value and integrated architectural style of Baroque façades and Chinese quads (Siheyuan). It is the largest existing area of Baroque buildings in China.
731 Japanese Germ Warfare Experimental Base: The world's largest germ warfare experimental base, which was built by Japanese troops in China during World War II. The base was opened as a historical reminder of the dark history of the Japanese aggression towards the Chinese. The base itself consists of several buildings ranging from a huge incinerator, operating rooms, testing labs, and farm houses which were used to breed rodents. The site visit does not include any gruesome photos and is not designed to scare or frighten anyone.
A grocery market with a difference:Get up early and take a short walk near the hotel we selects to see how an outdoor market operates at -20 degrees Celsius. Fruit and vegetables are sold in glass cabinets and padded tents, while boxes of popsicles are laid out on the ground. Watch braised pork knuckles freeze as they are taken out of steamy pots, and admire local shoppers who are oblivious to the frost that form all over their faces.
Enjoy Skiing at the Ski Resorts: For skiers, many ski resorts can be chosen during the ice festival in Harbin and its nearby areas, such as Yabuli Xintiwei Ski Resort (Yabuli New Physical Culture and Sports Commission Ski Resort), Yabuli Sunshine Holiday Village Ski Resort, Yawangsi Ski Resort, Longzhu Erlongshan Ski Resort, Harbin Institute Of Physical Education Skifield, Jihua Changshou Mountain Ski Resort, Huatian Wumiji Ski Resort, Pingshan Shenlu Ski Resort, Fanqi Shangjing International Ski Resort, Window Of Eurasian Ski Field, Harbin Moon Bay Ski Field, Ice And Snow World Ski Field, Yuquan International Hunting Ground Ski Resort, Weihu Mountain National Forest Park Ski Resort, Xudong Lantian Ski Resort.
China's Snow Town: A small village, which is about 6-7 hours' drive from Harbin. It is very popular with photographers for its beautiful snowscape. Here, tourists can find some interesting winter activities, such as dog/horse sledding, snowtubing, skiing and so on.
Chagan Lake Winter Fishing
The winter fishing in Chagan Lake originated from the Liao dynasty (907 - 1125), and is a traditional fishing custom in Mongolian Autonomous County of Qian Gorlos, Songyuan City, Jilin Province. It has been listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in China. On the frozen surface of Chagan Lake, Mongolian fishermen first drill hundreds of ice holes through the thick ice and then use the holes to carefully position a 2 km net under the ice. The net and its catch is then hauled out of the largest hole by means of a capstan turned by Mongolian horses. The processing of winter fishing in Chagan Lake includes sacrificing the lake, awakening the nets, chiseling holes, seting nets, and hauling nets. The winter fishing time for Chagan Lake is usually around December 20th to mid February of the following year, almost the same as the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival (Harbin Ice Festival).
Notes: 1. China's Snow Town and Chagan Lake winter fishing are usually bundled with Harbin Ice Festival by some tour operators. 2. If you want to book our well-designed Harbin Ice Festival tours, please click Harbin Ice Festival Tours 2024. If you want to customize a Harbin Ice Festival tour, please send us an Email (info@icefestivalharbin.com), we will work out a tour as per your request.
Temperature: Harbin is at the same latitude as Montreal, and winter temperatures is between -10 and over -30 °C. (in the past three years the lowest is around -17 due to the influence of the global warm). According to our experience in Harbin, temperature is expected -15℃ -- 25℃ during the period of the 40th Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival (December 20 to the end of February).
What to bring: Your passport, fur lined shoes, ear muffs, fur-lined leather gloves, down jacket, several layers of socks, padded pants, hat, scarf and mask.
Hint for your digital camera batteries: Digital camera batteries tend to use up their power quicker in the cold weather. We recommends that you keep your camera inside your jacket until you want to use it or have more batteries to use
Train and air tickets: Due to the popularity of the ice festival and the increased amount of travel associated with the winter vacation and Chinese Spring Festival, you may not be able to obtain even a single train or plane ticket. It become tighter from mid-January to February 15. You'd better book your tickets in advance.
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