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Harbin City Guide - Entertainment Winter Activities During winter one can skate about on the ice or snow at will, but there is also a host of commercial skating companies located on the Songhua River, which freezes to the depth of several meters. They offer a multitude of accessories: sledges with sails, motorcycles, hovercraft and helicopters. Try the sampan, an iron bar constructed boat-like contraption propelled by striking the icy ground with two poles. One of the best known skating and skiing locations is Yabuli, 190 km away from Harbin. Chinas first international standard skiing ground, it has snow cover on average 170 days a year, with skiing from November to mid-April. It has 11 ski runs totaling 30 km, the longest measuring five km. Ice and Snow Festival The Annual Ice Lantern Festival starts on January 5 every year. During the festival visitors can wander along the streets or around Zhao Lin Park, and marvel at the ice lanterns, which can be as small as 10 cubic centimeters and as large as 10,000 cubic meters. The ice carvings are in the shapes of figurines, pavilions, bridges, beasts and birds, fish and insects. They are transparent in daytime, but at night they glisten with the color of lamps inside. Some are also carved from pure snow. This is also one of the most popular times for local Harbin people to tie the knot and stage grand marriage ceremonies on the ice, wishing their love can be as pure as crystal ice and as profound as the snow. Ice Rolling Festival On the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, people in Harbin and in the rest of Heilongjiang Province go to the frozen rivers to roll on the ice, symbolizing their bad luck of the past year being absorbed by the ice, and when the ice melts in spring, their bad luck is washed away. They light candles, spray wood flakes into the shape of dragons and set them ablaze and, of course, roll on the ice. Winter Swimming and Diving Swimming in the icy Songhua River is probably the bravest sport in the world as the outdoor temperature is persistently minus 20 degrees Celsius. The swimmers first clear a trench in the ice around one meter wide at the center of the frozen river, then throw off their heavy padded coats and plunge into the icy water, still mixed with ice blocks. Some even pile up huge blocks of ice to build a diving platform. Sometimes Sino-Russian winter swimming contests are held here. Enjoying oneself in snow and ice is so popular that is has become a scholarly subject of research in Harbin. The Harbin Polytechnic Universitys ice and snow association, which was set up on December 9 1999, is dedicated to exploring the history and skills of skiing and speed and figure skating. Harbin has other sophisticated entertainment facilities, including Chinas largest underground entertainment venue, the Baile Gong (Fun Palace), which boasts a theater, ballroom, restaurant, hotel and shops. In summer, Sun Island attracts people from across the country for its diverse entertainment facilities, ranging from art shows to swimming. In autumn, there are places for hunting, riding horses and barbecues in the Yuquan (Jade Spring) Hunting Ground, 62 km from Harbin. Music Festival Harbin has concerts every year and the major event is the annual Harbin Summer Concert in July. This festival, sponsored jointly by the Ministry of Culture and the Harbin Municipality Peoples Government, invites major Chinese orchestras and bands and often some Russian and other foreign orchestras. In recent years, along with the music performances, dances, drama, acrobatics, films and puppet shows have been staged during the 12-day festival. Bowling In recent few years, bowling has spread and is one of the most respectable and affordable ways of having fun and treating guests in Harbin. The Heilongjiang East Bowling Entertainment Center is the most professional and best equipped alley in Northeast China. Angling If you like peace and quiet, angling is a good way to unwind. Harbin, a city built around the Songhua River, has many outdoor and indoor fishing spots open throughout the year. Well-established places include the Beihua Recreation Centers angling pond, Changling Lake Fishing Farm, and Zhajia Holiday Resort Indoor Angling Pond. Nightlife When dusk falls, the city is a myriad of colors. The cold winter doesn't discourage the young from seeking fun, and many choose to head for discotheques. The Xiaoye 21st Century Entertainment Center, Thousand-hand Buddha International Recreation Club and Weimingdun Wild and Crazy City have discos capable of holding one thousand people. They also have professional singers during the dancing intervals. |
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