cokesmith

Great winter destination - Harbin! Much more than just the ice festival. Check out our webpage for this really "cool" destination that can fill a three-day weekend!

Here is the link to our trip to Harbin:

http://cokesmithphototravel.com/Harbin_China_.html

Enjoy

silverwool

Fantastic pictures. I'm surprised there have not been more comments. Maybe people thought it was someone trying to sell a tour. Its not - well worth a look. You travel to some great places.

dgunbug

Wow! I've seen pictures of the ice festival before. Your pictures are spectacular. We've wondered about going to see the festival, but coming from Florida, we are ill prepared to withstand the cold. I wonder though what your thoughts are about visiting Harbin during other times of the year. Is it worth going there?

cokesmith

Thanks for looking! Harbin is an interesting place. The province it's in seems very worth exploring. Seems like a lot of nature spots worth checking into and we hope to someday. dgunbug, if you were to add HArbin to an overall larger China expedition, I would say it would be worth a trip all the way from Florida. The cold in the winter is below freezing everyday, but if you've been up north say in Chicago or someplace like that, I think you would find it comparable. Cheers!

Shanghainese

You have always showed us great photos, these are amazing. Looks like your family had loads of fun despite the frigid weather. My cousin has been there in summer, the weather was moderate and they felt like being in a resort town.

In 2010, we went to the Shanghai Wild Animal Park (not the Zoo) and saw a lone liger, didn't look happy.

cokesmith

I've yet to go to the wild animal park although it's not too far from us I think. When the weather freshens up a bit more I think... Shanghainese - do you still live in Shanghai?

JPDeM

Harbin is best visited in winter during this festival. Not worth the detour at other periods of the year. I live in China and have travelled all over and can assure you that there are many many better places to visit (except for this festival).

cokesmith

Yes but there are definitely some very appealing nature reserves in the province worth visiting in warmer months.

JPDeM

Which ones?

cokesmith

Zhalong nature reserve qiqihar to see the cranes is very high on my list!

JPDeM

I guess that tis would be of interest if you are a bird watcher. I see heron every day where I live in Canada so my interest is not the same. There are several places in China where you will find spectacular scenery and landscape. I have traveled extensively throughout China and the Dongbei area (north-east) is definitely the least interesting for me. The area is mostly know for it importance in heavy industries and steel industry.

cokesmith

Same here. Been living here for going on two years. Check out our travel pages if you get a chance.

http://cokesmithphototravel.com/Our_...Adventure.html

Loads of beautiful spots for sure!

Shanghainese

Coke:

I live in the US permanently, altho will be in Shanghai from mid April to early June.