Harbin; land of ice and snow. Part 1 (Jan 2026)

A bucket list destination. Harbin's Ice Festival. 

With my current school being a public school, we have to follow the public school semester plan, which includes 3 days of exams the first week of January. Also, as this is a Chinese public school, foreign teachers are not allowed on campus (No, we don't understand either) so off to Harbin I went. I was well prepared for the cold but was still a little nervous at how uncomfortable it could get. 

I landed late, got a taxi to the hotel and crashed for the night. The next morning I set off wandering in the vague direction of the river. 

First stop was St Sophia's Cathedral, which turned out to be a 10-minute walk from where I was staying. From here, I continued in the direction of Central street which at one point was the longest pedestrian shopping street at a whopping 1.4km. If this is still the case, I have no idea, but it led straight to the river and my first experience of an ice sheet. 

This was my first time being on a frozen river, especially one that is covered with cars pulling people on rubber rings, shopping stalls and alarmingly a BBQ. I got completely distracted by the cracks in the ice and how thick it was, and just how cold the water underneath would be. Given the huge number of people ice skating and wandering around, I was convinced of the ice's strength, but it's still a little difficult to forget that it is only ice under you. 

From the river, I took the cable car across to Sun Island Snow Sculpture Park. From the cable car, the scale of the river activities is impressive. 

A short ride later, I arrived at the sculpture park. 

The park was a disorganised mess of people wandering about, with the occasional shuttle bus. I still think I went to the wrong place, but I saw a few huge snow sculptures and "ice art", not really sure what to call it, pictured above. 

From here, I made my way on a packed subway to the Ice Festival itself.