horsys67: CNNGo TV in Harbin: China's ice city

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

CNNGo TV in Harbin: China's ice city

This month's CNNGo show is one of extreme experiences as we endure temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius in the northern Chinese city of Harbin.

Among the highlights: the freezing but amazing ice festival, custard popsicles and steaming hot dinners over coal stoves. Here are five of the locations we visited:

Harbin Ice & Snow World

A challenge for multiple senses.At 148 acres, this is the world's largest theme park of its kind. Each winter, about 2,000 ice castles, ice palaces and giant ice slides are built in just 14 days. The thick, clear ice is taken from the local Songhua River and illuminated with colorful LED lights.

Check out a gallery of the incedible displays here: China's coolest festival. It runs till February 25.

www.hrbicesnow.com

Stalin Park

Not sure what Stalin would make of this. Built in 1953, and named after the Russian dictator, this 1,750-meter-long park is located along the southern bank of the Songhua River.

During winter, the park extends onto the frozen river with a variety of winter sports and activities, including ice skating, ice sliding and ice sailing.

Bai Yi Da Di Guo -- Fish Wok Restaurant

Hotpot Retro-restaurant keeps you and your food warm. Specializing in fish cooked in massive woks, this place brings you back in time for a meal in 1970s China.

Dining takes place around communal tables built over coal stoves used to keep the food and brick settees hot during the meal.

Nangang District, 18 Hongxiang Road

Modern Ice Pop

Ice Pop No chance of this melting. Despite winter temperatures of minus 20 C or below, people queue up for ice pops outside the Modern Cold Drinks on Central Avenue on Central Avenue all year round.

The mysteriously popular ice cream comes in only two flavors, custard and chocolate.

Ice Palace Restaurant

Shangri-la Simultaneously hot and cold. In the back garden of the Harbin Shangri-la, the hotel builds its seasonal hotpot restaurant every winter. Made of ice, it's skillfully decorated to reflect the rich history of Dongbei’s (northeast China's) various ethnic groups.