Category: China

China

Harbin

by turners07301 Comment on Harbin

Our weekend trip to Harbin was filled with tigers, snow sculptures, ice structures, frozen river activities and ice lollys.  It was a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad we went.  I don’t see myself rushing out to visit again due to the unbelievable cold, but I am so pleased to have been.

After we saw the tigers we spent a bit of time wandering around the city, trying out Russian food and warming up with coffee.  We had a look around Sophia Square and the famous cathedral.

The biggest attraction would be the Ice and Snow City, there were sculptures and buildings galore as well as so many spectators.  From Disney characters, rubber duckies and the Colosseum there was something for everyone to enjoy.  We even had a go at the ice slides.  All of the attractions were very impressive, so hard to believe they were made from ice!

A massive line dance
Sponsored by…Samsumg
One of the biggest slides there
Going down, was really fun but got a bit congested
In an ice castle looking down below at the city
You could ride in a horse drawn carriage to take in the sights

Our final day was spent down on the river enjoying some of the many ice themed activities.  My most favourite was sitting on an inner-tube and sliding down a giant hill of ice.  It was quite exhilarating, with nothing but smiles and laughter around as we went back again and again.  We also tried the famous Harbin ice lolly, very strange to be eating something cold but it was quite tasty!

Ice lollys for sale, 5 rmb each (50p or 82 cents)
They are ready for business, which they need for the steady queue that we saw there
An interesting game in which you whip the stick with a string on it to hit a metal canister which spins like a top
Looking out over the river
Bumper cars, sleds, ice skating…
An escalator like ramp took us up the hill again and again
The activity managers blow a whistle and down the hill you go

-Mrs T

China

The Fruit and Veg Market

by turners0730Leave a Comment on The Fruit and Veg Market

After battling through coughs, colds and hangovers we decided to head down to our favourite fruit and veg market.

The pollution level was below 80 so this made the journey down a lot more desirable!

The previous day we plucked up the courage to buy a metro card. This basically saves you from queuing up at the ticket machines and also reducing the cost of the journey from 2RMB to 1.6RMB (20p to 16p or 35c to 25c). This is an absolute bargain compared to prices of public transport in the UK and US. To obtain the card all I had to do was wave, smile and make a square shape with my fingers! I then just said 50RMB (with 5 fingers displayed) and voila, the card was loaded and in my hands.

After a 10 minute tube ride from Xi Bei Jiao to Dong Nan Jiao we got a 5 minute tuk tuk to the fruit and veg market where we bought a huge bag of goodies for a grand total of 32 RMB (£3.20 or $4.80).

It is a great place to go to work on your Chinese numbers and the quality of the produce is excellent. Now all we need to do is figure out which recipes to follow this week.

Mr. T