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Top Things to Do in Winter in Harbin (Tips, Photos & Maps)

Saturday, January 15th, 2022

Plan your Harbin tour in winter? As the coldest city in the most northern China, Harbin’s coldest months fall on late December through early March. Late November through the whole January is the snowing season and January is the coldest month with the average temperature at -25 ℃. Harbin’s winter is dry, cold and long coupled with a longer period of snow covering.

Winter is the best season to visit Harbin with the main draws seeing and touching the snow, and January and February are the season for ice and snow festivals in Harbin.

Winter Major Attraction Map of Harbin (Google Map)

If you are going to visit Harbin in winter, we are going to round up the top things to do in winter for your quick guide.

1. Eat Popsicles on Zhongyang Street

Zhongyang Street is a unique European-style pedestrian street, 1450m long with lines of edifices, masses of entertainment areas, and colorful cultural life.

All of these buildings are in various styles including renaissance style, baroque style, eclectic style, as well as modern style, the profound history of architecture, a real “Architecture Art Gallery” in China.

A leisure stroll along the street is a must on your winter trip to Harbin. One thing you must do on the street is to taste the time-honored Madieer popsicles (马迭尔冰棍), a kind of milk ice pops first made in 1906.

For more information on popsicles, check out the link: Madieer Popsicles in Harbin .

Having a bite of Madieer popsicles at the temperature of -25℃ is an interesting experience, wearing down jacket and seeing our own breath, a beautiful “Cold” scene. You may ask where the Madieer Beverage House is located, no worrying about that since you will easily see people line up and eat popsicles on the street. Check out Zhongyang Street.

2. Winter Swimming on Harbin Songhua River

Songhua River winding through Harbin does bring lots of fun to the city. Local people have a long tradition of cutting and digging a large square hole or pool used as a swimming pool for winter swimming.

For more information on winter swimming, check out the link: Harbin Winter Swimming.

Visiting a riverside winter swimming pool dug and cut in Songhua River is not missed. You may even join them and take part in the winter swimming.

Winter swimming in Harbin is quite popular, a game for a brave man, even women! Most of the winter swimmers are high ages,in their 50s or even 60s and 70s! They swim, dive, even do boxing on the ice platform.

3. Winter Activities on Songhua River by Stalin Park

Built in 1953, the Stalin park is located on the southern bank of the Songhua River, extending 1,750 meters from the Songhua River railway bridge to the east and Jiuzhao Park to the west, it is a belt-shaped open park along the bank.

As its name suggests, the park is the evidence of the friendship between Russia and China at that time.

For more information on Songhua River by Stalin Park, check out: Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley.

Songhua River freezes solid with a depth of about a meter, naturally creating a wonderful winter sports playground. Playing on the Songhua River running by Stalin Park is one of the best things to do for kids in Harbin, slides, tubes, mats, toboggans, sledge, skating and more.

4. Underground Shopping Mall

Hongbo Square Commercial centre (红博广场) is only minutes’ walk from the railway station. Around the square are located many high buildings and shopping centers like “Qiulin” corporate – Harbin No.1 shopping center” corporate.

Under the square is the largest underground shopping mall in Harbin. It is a air-shelter turned underground shopping mall.

For more information on Hongbo Square Underground Shopping Mall, check out the link: Underground Shopping Mall.

The underground Hongbo shopping mall is like a maze! It actually provides everything from bags, shoes, clothes, silk, tea, table cloth, toys, souvenirs, to pears and jewellery as well all kinds of local products in Harbin. Check out Hongbo Square for more information.

5. Tasting Harbin Food

Harbin is oft-lauded as the Eastern Paris, as it is the communication spot between Russian culture and Chinese culture. Naturally in its dining field, there is the mixture of Russian style and Chinese style. Taking the authentic Russian meal is a must in your Harbin tour.

In Harbin the Zhongyang Street and the Huanghe Road are the two centralized dining places. Taste flying dragon, take smoked salmon, eat catsup bone…Dining has been one part of the ice city tour, and the taste is more delicious in the freezing weather.

“Shazhucai”, a kind of local flavor, literally meaning “kill a pig cuisine”. It is a stew dish with the ingredients of pork, Chinese vegetable, inners of a pig.

From the funny name “Sha Zhu Cai”, you can understand a bit about the personality of the people in the northeast China. Traditionally local farmers will raise pigs for about 8 months.

When the spring festival is in sight, they will kill the pig to make various kinds of dishes to improve diet and entertain guests. They will make full use of the pig from head to tail, from skin to blood and bone. Not interested in “Sha Zhu Cai”. Well, have a bite of baked potatoes! Check out Harbin Eating.

6. Harbin Polarland

In Habrin, you are able to experience the real life of the polar region. Harbin Polarland is the first theme park of polar land scenes in China.

Inside the sea-blue elegant building of Pole Aquarium, you will find pure penguin family of South Polar, the most active polar bear brothers in China.

Fore more information, check out Harbin Polarland.

There are also the wild arctic wolves introduced for the first time in Asia and the arctic fox brothers who can run on the running machine. The most thrill is the exciting polar land animal show – the performance presented by sea lions.

In addition, in winter season the polarland will build a “Polar Adventure Island” just outside the main building of Pole Aquarium.

The Polar Adventure Island is an ice and snow experience project, allowing people to have more interaction with polar animals, getting close to penguins and snow foxes.

7. Exploring Siberian Tiger Park

The Siberian Tiger Park is located north of Songhua River, about 37 km from downtown Harbin. There are white tigers, lions,leopards, and black pumas as well as Bengali tigers.

The whole park is divided into ten areas including the domesticating area, mature tiger area, young tiger area, Africa tiger area, the king tiger area, a walking area and a platform for viewing the tigers.

For more information, check out Siberian Tiger Park .

The park also provides a tour bus ( a safari-like tour ) to meet the need of tourist pursuing stimulate. The bus is protected by reinforcing steel net.

8. Ice and Snow World (Bingxue Big World)

Situated in the opposite of the Sun Island Landscape, is the largest, the most brilliant and the most complete park, which is also nicknamed “the Ice Disneyland”， or officially known as “冰雪大世界” which is recognized as “Bingxue Big World” by google map.

Blocks of ice are carved into sculptures and buildings and lit from within to provide glittering lights of ice. The structures include tall towers, Buddha Statues and even restaurants made of ice.

For more information, check out the link: Ice and Snow World (Bingxue Big World )

In the Ice and Snow World you will have the unique experiences such as Ice Bar, Ice Hotel, Maze, Climbing Ice Rock, Golf on the ice ground, Football on the ice ground, etc. The ice and Snow World basically starts on Jan 5 and lasts about one month each year.

9. Snow Carving at Sun Island

The Sun Island lies at the north bank of Songhua River, opposite to the Stalin Park. For its attractive landscape all over the year, the Sun Island is a famous scenic spot and a good reputation place in Chinese north regions.

Once a village for Russians, it is now a water-locked sunny natural bathing place with shady trees and belt beaches. The renowned Snow Carving Festival will be held on Sun Island.

For more information, check out the link: Snow Carving at Sun Island.

10. Skiing at Jinhua Ski Resort

Jinhua Ski Resort is located 50 km to the southeast of Harbin’s city center, one of China’s top ski resorts. The resort features 15 different ski slopes, which cover a distance of 30 km in total. It is designed to cater for beginner, medium and advanced-level skiers.

For more information, check out the link: Jinhua Ski Resort.

The resort has a ski school, which provides over 100 professional ski masters. The resort area gets heavy snowfall, with about 150 days of snow every year. It can accommodate 5,000 people at the same time. All the snow activities and skiing are paid on your own. After skiing, you will be transferred back to the city of Harbin.

Tip: Hassle-free Northeast China Escorted Tours

Don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route? No worries, We at Tour Beijing have some options for Northeast China guided tours with English-speaking tour guides:

Harbin Tour
Harbin 3 Day Tour Package
Changchun Tour
Shenyang Tour
Dalian Tour
Dandong Tour
North Korea Tour
Northeast China Tour

Location of China Snow Town

Located in the Xuexiang National Forest Park, China Snow Town is officially the seat of Shuangfeng Forest Farm (双峰林场) in Changtingzhen Township (长汀镇) at Hailin City (海林市), Mudanjiang (牡丹江), Heilongjian Province. The forest farm is under the administration of Dahailin Forestry Bureau (大海林林业局).

China Snow Town, recognized by Google also as Xuexiang National Forest Park, is located 15km to the northwest of Changtingzhen Township, 85km to the west of Mudanjiang and 350km to the southeast of Harbin by road.

The location of Xuexiang ( China Snow Town) Google

Xuexiang National Forest Park

China Snow Town is a one-horse town nestled in a valley surrounded by the thick mountain forest in Xuexiang National Forest Park. The Xuexiang National Forest Park is no longer allowed to cut trees for logging trade due to the new policies from the local government. The main task of these forest farms is to raise or take care of the trees in their controlled areas respectively.

Xuexiang National Forest Park’s unique geological location results in nearly 7-month snowing period in the town, the thickest snow in China. The snow in the town is both thick and sticky, a feature making the town a snow fairyland.

In winter, the traditional houses and courtyards in China Snow Town are decorated by the thick snow, creating magnificent natural snow engraving arts – snow mushrooms, snow curtains, snow rabbits, snow horses.

At night, the whole town is lit up by the red lanterns hanging outside their houses and on the streets, making the snow town a romantic place for wandering and unwinding.

Since 2000, Xuexiang National Forest Park has become more and more popular for its snow landscape featuring the snow arts bestowed by the nature. Gradually Xuexiang National Forest Park has been transformed from a traditional forest farm area into a hot snow destination, attracting thousands of visitors each winter.

Best Time to Visit China Snow Town (Xuexiang)

Now China Snow Town has become the password of Xuexiang National Forest Park . The best time to visit China Snow Town ranges from December to February.

How to Get to China Snow Town (Xuexiang)

Harbin, Mundanjiang and Changtingzhen are the the main entry places where you can take long-distance buses or hire a vehicle to get to China Snow Town.

China China Town (Xuexiang) – Changtingzhen – Mudianjiang (Google Map)

Xuexiang – Harbin Direct Tourist Shuttle Bus

Xuexiang ( Snow Town ) Shuttle Booking Hotline: 0453 – 7410892

Departure Time	Arrival Time	Starting Point	Arriving Places	Bus Fare	Note
7:00	12:30	Xuexiang Tourist Service Centre	1. Gonglu Daqiao Passenger Bus Station (109 Longrun Street) in Harbin 2. Zhongyang Street Station ( 4-1 Jiuzhan Street) in Harbin	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29
9:00	14:30	Same	Same	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29
10:00	15:30	Same	Same	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29
12:00	17:30	Same	Same	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29
13:00	18:30	Same	Same	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29
13:29	19:00	Same	Same	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29

Harbin – Xuexiang Direct Tourist Shuttle Bus

Xuexiang (Snow Town) Shuttle Booking Hotline: 0453 – 7410892

Departure Time	Arrival Time	Starting Points	Arriving Place	Bus Fare	Note
6:00	11:30	1. Gonglu Daqiao Passenger Bus Station (109 Longrun Street) in Harbin 2. Zhongyang Street Station ( 4-1 Jiuzhan Street) in Harbin	Xuexiang Tourist Service Centre in China Snow Town	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29
7:00	12:30	Same	Same	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29
8:00	13:30	Same	Same	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29
9:0	14:30	Same	Same	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29
10:00	15:00	Same	Same	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29
12:00	17:30	Same	Same	120 yuan	Start from Nov 29

Changtingzhen Township – Xuexiang

Changtingzhen Bus Station to Xuexiang (daily 6:40, 13:30, 16:50 departure) or take a taxi directly to Xuexiang (about 200 yuan).

Shuttle bus from Xuexiang to Changting town (5:30, 6:30, 12:30 every day)

Mudanjiang — Xuexiang

Mudanjiang direct bus to China Snow Town (one bus every day) Departures: Mudanjiang (14:00) — Dahailin (16:50) — China Snow Town (20:00)

China Snow Town back to Mudanjiang (one bus every day) Departures: China Snow Town (5:30) — Dahailin (9:30) — Mudanjiang (11:30)

Harbin — Xuexiang (Train + Bus)

By Train: From Harbin station, take train to Mudanjiang City, and then transfer to Snow Town by shuttle bus

By Bus: Harbin West Passenger Station (哈尔滨西客运站) has a direct bus to Changtingzhen (长汀镇） every day. Departure time: 15:00, 20:00 to Changtingzhen Township, and then transfer by bus or taxi to China Snow Town.

Bus from Changtingzhen Township to Harbin leaves Changting Passenger Station at 5:00 every morning

China Snow Town Tourist Center ( You can buy bus tickets )

China Snow Town is a one-street town. The street is known as “Xueyun Dajie”, about 500 meters long. The tourist center is located in the middle section of the street, near Xueyunge Hotel 雪韵阁酒店.

Where to Stay in China Snow Town

At the time of my writing, there are some hotels in the town like Days Hotel & Suites Xuexiang and Xueyunge Hotel. The hotels in the town are far from meeting the increasing demand of tourists coming to the town at peak season.

So please book your hotel well in advance during the peak season.

Most of the workers at the forest farm have turned their courtyard homes into family inns which are mainly composed of several 4-person stone-bed room ( kang ) with shared or private bathrooms. Beside accommodation, they also offer food service, or three meals a day if you prefer. They even go out of their way to help you assisting in planning your local travel arrangement.

Recommended Hotel in China Snow Town
Xueyunge Hotel 雪韵阁酒店
0453 – 7410858
Add: This hotel is located in the middle section of the one-street China snow town, close to the tourist center where you can buy the bus tickets for Harbin or Yabuli.

Top things to do in China Snow Town

1. Get up early to catch sunrise view at Yangcaoshan Mountain or Tudingshan Mountain. Book your tickets through the official agents or your host family.
2. Hike across from China Snow Valley (雪谷) to Snow Town, a challenging 15-km walking on the snow.
3. Go skiing at Snow Town Ski Resort
4. Taking photos freely on the street or around the houses in the town.
5. Taking pictures at the two paid sites on the street.
6. Just experience the coldest weather.
7. Have a bite of the local food.
8. Enjoy the local Er-Ren-Zhuan (Two-person performance).

Entrance Tickets for Xuexiang National Forest Park

The main entrance fee for China Snow Town （ Xuexiang National Forest Park ）: RMB 75 ( valid for two days ).

Service Enquiry : 400-000-0453

Virtual Tour of China Snow Town

A street front grocery Store at China Snow Town

Street vendors are doing business despite of the extreme cold outside

Snow Theatre ( put on performances each night)

family inns for basic accommodations in China Snow Town

Dreamland (梦幻家园) is a pay attraction for photo taking.

Snow covered houses

Rows of houses and courtyards are blanketed by white snow

Snow covered houses

The snow house resembles a huge mushroom

Night View of snow covered houses in China Snow Town

A cozy and beautiful scene in China Snow Town

Add-on

China Snow Town ( Tips, Photos & Map)
Harbin Yabuli China Snow Town Direct Shuttle Bus
Harbin to China Snow Town Road Trip
Sunrise Glow over China Snow Village
Night View of China Snow Village
Yabuli Ski Resort

Tip: Hassle-free Northeast China Escorted Tours

Don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route? No worries, We at Tour Beijing have some options for Northeast China guided tours with English-speaking tour guides:

Harbin Tour
Harbin 3 Day Tour Package
Changchun Tour
Shenyang Tour
Dalian Tour
Dandong Tour
North Korea Tour
Northeast China Tour

ABC of Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

Today I’d like to introduce you to another ice and snow activity in Harbin which is more interactive and entertaining – Harbin Ice and Snow Valley （哈尔滨冰雪欢乐谷）, an important part of Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival.

Harbin Ice and Snow Valley Festival was originally inaugurated in the year of 2000. Since then, the Harbin Ice and Snow Valley is held annually lasting about 50 days starting December 25 and ending in Feb each year.

Location of Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

The venue of the ice and snow valley is located on the Songhuajiang River by the Harbin Flood Control Monument and Stalin Park, on the northern tip of Zhongyang Street (中央大街).

Zhongyang Street is the main entrance into the huge ice park, which is also easily accessible from other 5 entries including Jiuzhan Street, Friendship Palace, Tongjiang Street, Wanda and Shangzhi Avenue along the south bank of Songhuajiang River.

Layout of Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

Basically each year’s ice and snow valley takes a total area of about 76 square meters with 8 sections covering leisure, entertainment, food and beverage, folklore, shopping.

There are over 50 ice and snow activities going on the huge park perched on Songhuajiang River which include winter swimming, whipping spinning tops, ice slides, snow cars, dogsleds, a large ice and snow maze, the Ewenki Mysterious Land, Inuit Culture Exhibition and more.

Paid activities in the ice park

Free entrance to the huge park of Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley which includes 8 areas separated from each other on the iced river. But you are supposed to pay any activities inside the park.

Safety of the huge ice park

An advanced radar scanning system imported from Norway is equipped to monitor the thickness of the river ice surface, making sure the all activities on the iced river is safe.

How to Visit Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

As a first-time visitor to Harbin in winter, you are highly recommended to put Zhongyang Street and Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley on a combo half day trip or day trip depending on your travel time.

Strolling along Zhongyang Street and get to Stalin Park and Songhua River ( Ice Valley in winter)

Enter the northern entrance to Zhongyang Street and follow your nose to its northern edge of Songhua River, which is partly turned into a huge ice park in winter, namely Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley.

A leisure stroll along Zhongyang Street is one of your highlights on your Harbin trip. Zhongyang Street is a unique European-style pedestrian street, 1450m long with lines of edifices, masses of entertainment areas, and colorful cultural life.

The renaissance style buildings at Zhongyang Street

At the northern end of Zhongyang Street is the Stalin Park on the southern bank of Songhua River, a Soviet-era landscaped park with Russian gardens & monuments, turned into the huge ice park, namely Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley.

The central area of The Ice and Snow Valley is behind the monument.

Behind the monument is the centre area of Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley, an annual event in Stalin Park. It is a place you immerse yourself into the happy ice and snow events in Harbin – winter swimming, snow bike, skiing and you name it.

Behind the monument is Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

Virtual Tour of Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

Follow me to have a glimpse of the so-called largest snow and ice playground in the world.

The so-called Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley is a huge ice and snow playground on Songhua River along the Stalin Park on the northern tip of Zhongyang Street.

The ice and snow playground has a total area of 76 square meters with 8 sections. Each section is composed of several fenced areas for different ice and snow activities.

Play the spinning top

Sliding on the ice

Self-guided stool sliding on the ice

Drive an ice and snow motor

Ice and Snow Tanks

Ice and snow manual car

Biking on the huge ice park at Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

Skating on a track

The Ewenki dogsleds

Winter Swimming. For more information on the winter swimming, check out Harbin Winter Swimming.

Let’s again have a look at the huge ice park of Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley.

Tip: Hassle-free Northeast China Escorted Tours

Don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route? No worries, We at Tour Beijing have some options for Northeast China guided tours with English-speaking tour guides:

Harbin Tour
Harbin 3 Day Tour Package
Changchun Tour
Shenyang Tour
Dalian Tour
Dandong Tour
North Korea Tour
Northeast China Tour

Archive for the ‘Heilongjiang Travel’ Category

Top Things to Do in Winter in Harbin (Tips, Photos & Maps)

1. Eat Popsicles on Zhongyang Street

2. Winter Swimming on Harbin Songhua River

3. Winter Activities on Songhua River by Stalin Park

4. Underground Shopping Mall

5. Tasting Harbin Food

6. Harbin Polarland

7. Exploring Siberian Tiger Park

8. Ice and Snow World (Bingxue Big World)

9. Snow Carving at Sun Island

10. Skiing at Jinhua Ski Resort

Tip: Hassle-free Northeast China Escorted Tours

Further Readings

China Snow Town (Tips, Photos & Map)

Location of China Snow Town

Xuexiang National Forest Park

Best Time to Visit China Snow Town (Xuexiang)

How to Get to China Snow Town (Xuexiang)

Xuexiang – Harbin Direct Tourist Shuttle Bus

Harbin – Xuexiang Direct Tourist Shuttle Bus

Changtingzhen Township – Xuexiang

Mudanjiang — Xuexiang

Harbin — Xuexiang (Train + Bus)

China Snow Town Tourist Center ( You can buy bus tickets )

Where to Stay in China Snow Town

Top things to do in China Snow Town

Entrance Tickets for Xuexiang National Forest Park

Virtual Tour of China Snow Town

Add-on

Tip: Hassle-free Northeast China Escorted Tours

Further Readings

Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley (Tips, Photos & Map)

ABC of Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

Location of Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

Layout of Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

Paid activities in the ice park

Safety of the huge ice park

How to Visit Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

Virtual Tour of Harbin Ice and Snow Happy Valley

Tip: Hassle-free Northeast China Escorted Tours

Further Readings