Harbin
The Ice and Snow Festival and China's most European city
Harbin is a city with a Siberian accent. Built by the Russians as a railway town, it still has onion-domed churches, cobbled Central Street, and a cuisine built on smoked sausage, black bread and beer. Between January and February it becomes the Ice and Snow World: a temporary city of illuminated ice palaces built from blocks cut out of the frozen Songhua river.
Plan for real cold — minus 20 is normal and minus 30 happens. We provide the gear list, the warm vehicles and the timing so you see the ice at night and the snow sculptures at Sun Island by day.
Two hours out is Yabuli, the largest ski area in China, and the forest country of the northeast.
Places to see in Harbin
The highlights we build into almost every Harbin itinerary. Your own list can be longer, shorter, or somewhere else entirely.
Harbin Ice and Snow World
A city of illuminated ice palaces, rebuilt every winter from the Songhua river.
St Sophia Cathedral
A 1907 Russian Orthodox church with green onion domes, now a museum.
Central Street (Zhongyang Dajie)
Cobbled, European, and lined with bakeries and sausage shops.
Sun Island Snow Sculpture Park
Enormous carved snow, best seen in daylight.
The frozen Songhua River
Solid in January — you can walk, sledge or skate across it.
Yabuli Ski Resort
The largest ski area in China, two hours by train from the city.
Volga Manor
A riverside estate of Russian-style mansions, 30 minutes out.
More places in China
Tell us what you want to see in Harbin
We do not publish fixed packages or prices, because almost nothing about a good trip to China is fixed. Send us your dates and interests and a specialist will design an itinerary around them — with a clear, itemized quotation.
- Your own English-speaking guide and private vehicle
- Hotels chosen for location, not for commission
- Tickets and permits booked on your behalf, including timed entries
- Free revisions until the trip is right
We reply to every inquiry within one business day.