Must Do! Harbin’s Ice and Snow World 冰雪大世界 （Bīng Xuě Dà Shì Jiè）
This was one of the coolest places I’ve ever been (no pun intended). The Ice and Snow World is the epitome of Harbin. It is similar to a festival (or really nice carnival). There are activities, places to eat, games and more. It is a very entertaining place to be for people of all ages. In my opinion there are two places that you should go to while in Harbin, they are can’t miss places. One is the Sun Island and the other is the Ice and Snow World. Seeing the ice buildings and sculptures, especially when they are lit up at night, is a once in a lifetime experience.
What time of the day is best to go?
The best time of the day to head to the Ice and Snow World is anywhere between 2:30-3:00PM. The reason why is because the main attraction (when the ice buildings are lit up) occurs at night. So, there will be crowds of people lining up to get in from around an hour before dusk. Remember that you are in a very northern part of the globe and in winter it gets darker earlier. That being said dusk might be around 4:30 or 5:00 o’clock.
The reason why you’d want to beat the crowds is because there are slopes that were created for sledding and sliding down. The sloped are very tall and elaborate and are said to be very fun.
However, if you don’t arrive early enough to beat the crowds then there will be a ridiculously long line of people waiting to go sledding. When I say long I mean like waiting in line at the DMV to renew a license, while the staff is on strike long for better wages long. I was told at about 5:00PM was that the line was about an hour and a half to two hours long! I need not remind you that it is COLD outside.
So, the decision then is do you wait well over an hour for your turn on the sledding slopes/slide (in the cold) and hope that it is everything that you’d hope for? Or do you go around and enjoy the rest of the activities and scenery?
The ice bars in igloos are well worth a visit. Even if you don’t drink, just take a seat at one of the tables and relax for a bit. But be advised that because the seats are ice as well, sitting for too long will make your butt cold. Don’t expect to warm up while inside.
Activities
- Ice biking- it is a strange as it sounds. The “bicycle” is kind of a hybrid between a go-cart and a bike. There are two tires but there is also a metal frame that comes out from the side of the bike to the floor (aside the front and back tires) to give it stability. It is the equivalent of ice bumper cars in my opinion.
- Ice Skating
- Sledding
- Tire sledging
- Ice slides
- Fun houses?- They are kind of like fun houses but inside there are just a bunch of different lights and a long line of people.
The Arctic Fox
Now the question will inevitably arise ” To hold the fox or not hold the fox?” Now the arctic fox has a very thick coat and honestly it is the softest thing that I have ever felt. It is very cute and docile as well. Once you hold it you hold it you will want it as a pet.
However, I would advise against holding the fox for a few reasons. The first of which being that it is around 20-30 RMB to hold and take a picture with the fox (I don’t remember the exact price). If you’re paying that much money there’s a reasonable expectation that your going to obtain something, like a polaroid photo for example. Nope. The guy borrowed my phone and took pictures of me holding the fox with my own phone. That doesn’t seem right to me.
Second and more importantly is that I think there was a reason that the fox looks so sleepy in all of the pictures I have of it. I think the handlers drugged it to lessen the danger of holding the fox. The treatment of animals in other countries are very different from western countries. It leads me to believe that the handlers may have been using a tranquilizing agent on the fox. In China I don’t imagine there is much oversight for the caring of animals owned by citizens. So, I don’t think that these individuals should be encouraged to continue this kind of behavior.
How to get there?
The Ice and Snow World is a bit far from Zhong Yang Street (where the majority of the hostels and hotels are). I will say that it is a bit too far to walk, so best to take an Uber or a cab to get there. It will only be between a 10-15 minute cab ride and won’t cost too much either.
东北虎林园 （Dōng Běi Hǔ Lín Yuán）The Tiger Park
The Tiger Park was such different experience from zoos or animal parks. The tours of the park were conducted on a bus. If you are a cat person or like wild animals, then the Tiger Park is a must do. There are all kinds of wild cats housed here. To list just a few there are tigers (both Siberian and Bengal), lions, jaguars, cheetahs, panthers, mountain lions and they even have a liger.
How the tours worked is that all of the visitors were put on a bus outside the tiger cage and then they were taken through the tiger areas. The tigers will approach the bus and come unnervingly close. The tours have a certain Jurassic Park feel to them, in that the animals aren’t necessarily the ones in the cages during the tour, you are.
At a certain point on the tour inside the tiger area, you may see a person driving a truck. This person apparently hates turkeys because he’ll kick a turkey out of the truck in the middle of the tiger area. Then all of the visitors on the bus will get to see how the tigers hunt their prey and just how dangerous the tigers can be.
On a side note: There is the option of feeding the tigers a live chicken, sheep or cow. The cost increases along with the size of the animal. Some friendly advice is to not do that. It sounds better than it actually is.
Ticket Price: If I’m not mistaken I believe it is in the area of 65 RMB.
If you look at the top of the picture above you may vaguely be able to make out a chicken in a small cage and what looks like a pulley system. Pretty much what happens is once someone decides to feed the tigers a chicken, an employee stuffs a chicken into a small cage rings a bell (to alert the tigers) and uses a pulley system to position the cage directly over the center of the tiger area. You will see about 10 tigers all grouped together under the cage waiting for this poor dammed chicken to fall. The employee then pulls a cord, which releases the bottom of the cage causing the chicken to fall like stone. The chicken will never make contact with the floor. It will fall directly into the mouth of one of the tigers. The lucky tiger will then proceed to run to a far corner, where he will eat the chicken. If you were expecting a wild Tom & Jerry like chase scene that would be worthy of being on the discovery channel, you would not be alone. However, you would be very disappointed and wished you hadn’t spent the money to pretty much sentence a chicken to death.
To feed the tigers a live sheep or cow gets a bit expensive and honestly it’d probably be best not to do that. You might sleep a bit better at night.
The Baby Tigers
The baby tigers look incredibly cute and it is so tempting to pay to hold them. A friendly tip… do not hold these animals! They don’t like it and you will not like it. If you look at some of the pictures above you may have been distracted by how cute the tiger looks to notice the industrial construction worker gloves the woman is wearing. It looks like she’s about to go into a career of training large birds. Those gloves were put on for a reason, because as soon as that woman picked up the little tiger he was trying his very best to scratch or bite her face in any way that he could. He was not having it. The pictures below tell a more complete story.
How to get there?
There are two ways that you could get to the Tiger Park. One is to take a cab or Uber. This way would be the least stressful and you wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost. However, if you are staying at a hostel near Zhong Yang Street the tiger park is a bit far so the cab ride to and from could be a bit expensive.
Another way to get to the Tiger Park would be to take the local bus. There is only one transfer of buses. However, once you transfer buses you will need to cross the walk a bit (no more than a 1/4 mile) to find the next bus stop. The bus stop will also be diagonal from that one the one you were dropped off at. So, you’ll need to cross the street to make sure your taking the correct bus in the correct direction. It might sound complicated and frustrating but it is easier than it sounds. By taking the local buses to the Tiger Park you will only spend about 4 or 6 RMB. This is the recommended method of travel.
How long should you plan on spending at the Tiger Park?
It is recommended that you allot 1/2 a day to explore and enjoy the Tiger Park. The park is large however, most of the park is caged and after going on the bus tour through the park there is not to much you can see an explore on your own. Or at least not enough to take up a whole day’s time.
International Kev 