A gorgeous summertime sunset on Hexing Road.
20 July 2017
26 April 2017
22 April 2017
Unexpectedly Sacred Spaces
Growing up in the Horn of Africa I was familiar with the sight of a large tree with offerings of butter underneath it, remnants of a past animism that hadn't been forgotten despite the spread of Christianity and Islam in the region. It was a surprise, however, to see similar offerings (steam buns and incense) at an otherwise unremarkable tree outside the Harbin Convention Center Mall. "It's a small world after all..."
IKEA Naps Come to Harbin
Chinese shoppers have long been able to nap at IKEAs across the PRC, but now that IKEA has opened a demo store in the Hongbo Convention Center Mall (a precursor to its Haxi store, set to open this summer) they can finally nap at IKEA-Harbin too!
20 April 2017
Harbin Railway Cultural Palace
The lovely Harbin Railway Cultural Palace on Xidazhi Street, formerly the Chinese Eastern Railway Club.
17 April 2017
Harbin Railway Station Demolition
A panorama of the ongoing demolition of the old front square and buildings of the Harbin Railway Station! The rebuilt station (operational throughout the renovations) will front a grand new plaza facing north rather than southeast.
10 April 2017
IKEA Construction Site
I have been reading and hearing about Harbin's IKEA opening "soon" since I moved to Manchuria nearly 3 years ago. (I think this time it may well happen though!) According to my sources IKEA will open its Haxi store in either July or August 2017!
08 April 2017
Spring on Hongbo
Hongbo Square's snowflake (on the site of the old city Cathedral of St. Nicholas) on a gorgeous, chilly spring day.
05 April 2017
04 April 2017
Old Railway Bridge
I've been passing this lovely old bridge near the top of Zhongyang Avenue for years now, and I had no idea that it was a pedestrian walkway and not a working railway bridge!
I visited the bridge on a holiday, so it was a little crowded. (This photo doesn't do that statement justice, there were sections that were quite packed.)
A train crossing the Songhua on the new railway bridge.
The lovely little park along the old train tracks on the other side of the bridge. It felt fairly new, especially in the stretches with gaping holes waiting for trees to go in!
A look up the river with its melting ice floes and hazy Songbei shoreline. (As the region melts in the springtime we start getting dust storms sweeping in from further west.)
A look at Stalin Park and downtown Harbin from the bridge.
The Great Meltdown
A look at the melting Songhua! Qingming Festival was our first day over 20 degrees this spring and even with all the dust in the air it was still lovely to be out and about on such a warm day!
A look at the patchwork of ice still clinging to the river.
27 March 2017
Mall Matryoshka
Most people here don't seem to like Russians, but that doesn't stop them from using Harbin's Russian origins to make a few bucks. This was the first time I'd spotted a giant matryoshka being used for such purposes though! (Or any giant matryoshka at all for that matter!)
26 March 2017
Songhua in Early Spring
Given how warm (for here!) it's been lately I was more than a little surprised to see so much ice left on the Songhua! You definitely can't walk across it anymore, but it's still impressive how much of the river is still covered!
The trees are very wisely holding out till they're sure the warmer weather's here to stay...
People are already out flying kites again! (God knows there's always the wind for it!)
20 March 2017
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...Spring?
I'm a little afraid that we'll get a snowstorm after I post this, but we've had daytime highs well over zero for a few days now, so hopefully we won't! Pictured is the Harbin Concert Hall - the rather hideous present-day home of China's oldest symphony orchestra - on Qunli Way in southwest Harbin.
A closeup of a lovely sculpture outside the Harbin Concert Hall.
05 March 2017
A Warmer Winter
It's definitely been an odd winter here in Manchuria! I moved here from the American Midwest, so while the duration of the cold was a change, the cold and snow in and of themselves weren't a big shock. And the last two winters certainly delivered plenty of cold! But while this winter has had its cold moments, on the whole it's been a lot warmer than my previous winters here have been.
Exhibit A: It got so warm in mid-February that every started melting, which was just unreal after my previous winters here!
Exhibit B: Not long after everything melted, we got dumped on! (This just shows the beginning!) There's just no telling what you're going to get...
08 February 2017
Sun Island Snow Festival 2017
The snow princess sculpture at the entrance to the Snow Festival, held annually as part of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival at the Sun Island Scenic Area. Entrance is ¥240 (about US$35) for foreigners and ¥150 (roughly US$22) for local residents.
A sculpture depicting Harbin's historic fusion of Eastern European, East Asian, and modern influences.
One of the larger sculptures at the Festival this year inspired by Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
It was a little startling (and cool!) to see a desert scene depicted in snow.
Some of my favorites among the snow sculptures incorporated traditional Chinese painting in really stunning ways!
It's the Year of the Fire Rooster on the Chinese calendar, so it was a little funny to see so many roosters made of snow...
More snow/paint gorgeousness!
A snow seahorse! (Or a sea snowhorse?)
This particular sculpture was really striking!
The view over the frozen lake at the heart of the Sun Island Scenic Area.
Sunset over Sun Island!
Another of my favorites!
WHAT is that shark going to do to that poor rooster!?
03 February 2017
Zhongyang Ice and Snow Festival 2017
This isn't part of the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival per se, but it was cool to see the lanterns rising over the Flood Control Monument the evening I went to check out Zhongyang Avenue's ice and snow sculptures!
The snow and ice sculptures of Chinese dumplings near the Flood Control Monument - the ice sculpture is almost good enough to make you hungry!
One of the ice-block beer gardens set up along Zhongyang this winter!
This year's Coca-Cola store and snow sculpture.
My favorite of this year's ice sculptures along Zhongyang!
29 January 2017
Harbin Metro: Opening of Line 3
The Harbin Metro's Line 3 is finally open!
...but as of now only two of the stations are open.
Line 3 will eventually make a ring around central Harbin, but for now the only stations open are at its southern crossover with Line 1, the Harbin West Railway Station, and one station in between the two.
While it'll be of limited usefulness for now, Line 3 certainly is all shiny and pretty! Here's to hoping more of its stations open soon!
Zhaolin Park Ice Festival 2017
The south entrance to Zhaolin Park this winter. Every year the Park features incredible ice sculptures as part of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival. The entrance fee is ¥150 (about US$22) and well worth it!
The inner gate at the south entrance to the Zhaolin Park Ice Festival.
Looking back towards the inner gate. This year the walkway featured plaques with the history of Harbin's Ice and Snow Festival.
The skill and diversity of the ice sculptures featured at Zhaolin is just incredible!
There were two or three ice sculptures featuring dolphins, but this was my favorite...
Dancers - simple, yet elegant.
I believe this depicts a character from Chinese opera.
An ice sculpture of a Kazakh eagle hunter!
Some of the sculptures were simple, others (like the one pictured above) were quite complex.
There were some ice sculptures depicting cartoon characters, but I definitely wasn't expecting to see something from Alien!
Seriously so much gorgeousness!
One of the smaller entryways to the park. A lot of the more monumental ice structures at Zhaolin Park were beautiful homages to classical Chinese architecture, something sadly not seen in most Chinese cities today...
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