Changchun & Harbin tour

Located north of BJ, Changchun and Harbin are relatively new cities and thus looks more modern than BJ.
We spent 2 days in Changchun. As soon as we arrived, we were taken to the hotel for a buffet breakfast, and then to a very small ski field where I had a go at skiing. It was fun! Some people didn't ski and tried the dog sleigh. Apparently, it's all just for show - a person pushes the sleigh from behind!

After lunch, we visited the Puppet Emperor's Palace Museum which was home to Puyi, the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty who later became a puppet emperor of Manchukuo during the Anti-Japanese War. There was a bomb shelter which was also open to visitors - it was huge! For dinner that night, we had jiaozi (gyoza). The tour guide ordered 2 plates of jiaozi per person. There was no way we could finish it all, even with more guys than girls on our table. Looking across to the other table, they had stacked up all their empty plates of jiaozi and were taking photos - they'd finished every single one. Amazing!
On the second day, we visited the Changchun Film City and some old building that used to be a hospital but now a medical science research centre. It was a total waste of time. We still had about 2 hours to kill even after a hearty lunch at a nice hotel where we sat for at least 2 hours, so we were taken to Wenhua Park. There, we walked around taking photos and watched the many people flying kites. In the late afternoon, we head off to the train station and left for Harbin.

We had a late dinner on arrival at Harbin after which we went straight to our rooms for a shower and went to bed. The final day was long and tiring, but much more enjoyable than Changchun. The tour guide was much better than the one at Changchun, which made all the difference.
We first went to the tiger park which was more like a prison, and it smelled really bad. The tigers were cute though, especially the white tiger - big and fluffy.^^

Next stop was "Sun Island" where we walked around admiring the snow sculptures. It was amazing. I liked it more than the ice sculptures we saw later in the day which were pretty impressive. I was one of 4 people who had a go on the huge slide. It was so much fun!




We also visited the majestic St. Sofia Orthodox Church and the Russian-built Zhongyang Dajie shopping street.

Dinner was jiaozi again, at the head shop of the same jiaozi chain we went to in Changchun. The tour guide told us that in north-east China, it is a custom to eat jiaozi when you're seeing guests off, and noodles when welcoming guests.
All in all, it was a fun trip. Although the company was made up of several nationalities, everyone got along well and exchanged contact details on the train trip back to BJ. I hope we will get the chance to meet again. :)

More photos here!^^