Michael and I went to Harbin, a small town in northern China, to celebrate our 17Th anniversary that was in December. We had a wonderful time (despite the freezing weather!). Harbin was the town that many Russians settled in, in the early 1900s. They left when Mao stepped in. Every year, they have a huge ice-sculpture and snow-sculpture festival. It is truly amazing. I have selected a few photos. This year there was a very strong Olympic theme. At the ice-sculpture festival, there were buildings from around the world. They choose a different country every year for the snow-sculptures. This year was France.


Here I am in an ice-bar. They would sell hot chocolate, tea, and coffee. If you are really crazy you can order cold beer. It was too cold even on those fur seat covers to want to order anything!


The ice-sculpture festival was amazing. It was so cold that the camera's batteries went out SO fast! It also had a hard time focusing as the evening went on. It took a long time to warm up when we got back to the hotel (even though we each had 3 layers on under those coats). The magnitude of these sculptures are amazing. They get huge ice chunks from the river and bring them all in. There is no metal or other type of foundation for these buildings.











This is a huge snow-sculpture. People were actually worshipping there.


There is an old Russian Orthodox church in the middle of the town. They have turned it into a museum, but it was neat to look at.


Here is the snow-sculpture festival. There were hundreds of sculptures. We were amazed to watch the workers still building the largest building in the forbidden city. They even did the mystical gargoyles on the roof corners. The detail was amazing! There were some beautiful sculptures done for the international competition. There was also a gigantic sculpture that you will see. Pay attention to how small the people look in comparison with it. It was all pretty incredible.