With the 2021 Harbin Ice and Snow festival underway. Here is a look back to our visit in 2015
Harbin Ice and Snow Festival 2015: Memories
Harbin Ice Skyscrapers
Harbin Ice and Snow Festival is a must! At last we made it to Harbin. We had wanted to go to Harbin for its Ice Festival for years and at last everything fell into place.
What would the Ice festival be like without Harbin’s favorite brew?
Here is the rundown for this year’s Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. Later we’ll be putting up a more personal account. In this post we’ll give you the info you need if you are planning to go this year 2015.
The journey from Kunming to Tonghai takes less than three hours, a straight bus-ride down the motorway with very little in the way of visual distractions. Tonghai itself is a small agricultural town, a few kilometres from the Qilu lake, on whose shores a village inhabited by descendants of soldiers from the Mongol armies survives to this day.
通海 古城 Tonghai Old town
Tonghai Today
The town, which is currently undergoing a beautification campaign, like so many others in China, is nothing to write home about. Unfortunately, many interesting old buildings, mostly dating from the Qing dynasty, have already fallen prey to the sledge hammer, while others are undergoing dubious reforms.
通海 古城 Tonghai Old town
However, Tonghai’s saving grace is its interesting population mix and, most of all, the wonderfully atmospheric Xiushan park.
Xiushan Park Tonghai, Yunnan province 秀山公园
Tonghai’s Xiushan park
Xiushan park is a large temple park in the style of China’s famous Holy Mountains, set on Xiushan mountain, overlooking Tonghai city and Qilu lake. Its total lack of cable cars, souvenir stalls and tourists make this park easily one of the most pleasant and laid- back in China.
Xiushan Park Tonghai, Yunnan province 秀山公园
Those relatively few monks and pilgrims there are, earnestly pray and leave offerings for the gods, simple yet beautiful gifts of flowers, rice, candles and incense. Meanwhile, the locals sip tea and play Mah-jong, Chinese chess and cards in the courtyards of the temples.
Xiushan Park Tonghai, Yunnan province 秀山公园
Minimalist Bonsai gardens and ancient, gnarled trees of a variety of species, such as camellias, cypresses or firs, many of them held up by metal bars, add beauty and a kind of timeless charm to the place.
Dragons in Xiushan Park Tonghai, Yunnan province 秀山公园
Besides trees, dragons are the protagonists of the park, either wrapping their bodies around pillars, cavorting above doorways, or splashing in fountains. All in all, it’s a lush and peaceful place.
Xiushan Park Tonghai, Yunnan province 秀山公园
Entrance to the park is 15 Yuan and foreigner visitors still attract the curiosity of the locals in these parts.
Xiushan Park Tonghai, Yunnan province 秀山公园
Practicalities:
Places to Stay and Eat:
Xiushan Park Tonghai, Yunnan province 秀山公园
We stayed at the Tongyin hotel, supposedly the poshest and most expensive one in town, for 145 Yuan, including breakfast. You can’t miss it, it’s the tallest building in town, two minutes away from the bus station, on a main road. There is no shortage of cheaper hotels, most of them new, near the bus station and on the road into town from Kunming.
Xiushan Park Tonghai, Yunnan province 秀山公园
Food options in Tonghai are not great. There are a number of small hole-in-the-wall type restaurants near the bus station with lots of meat and hanging carcesses, or the entrance to Xiushan Park, as well as at least one smart restaurant inside the Tongyin hotel. A couple of decent supermarkets provide for self caterers.
meat and hanging carcesses
Coming and Going
Buses to Tonghai leave from Kunming’s main long-distance bus station regularly throughout the day. There are plenty of buses in the other direction as well. Regular buses leave for Jianshui, every two and half hours.
Hell scene in a temple Xiushan Park Tonghai, Yunnan province 秀山公园
With winter arriving, the Harbin Ice festival will begin again.
What can you do during the day before the lights come on?
Visit the Siberian Tiger Park 哈尔滨 东北虎林园
Siberian tigers having lunch in Harbin
Siberian Tigers in the Siberian Tiger Park 东北虎林园
If you get the chance to visit Harbin in Heilongjiang Province this winter (that’s a big if!), remember that during the day light hours before the ice festival is lit up, you can visit the amazing Siberian Tiger Park 东北虎林园 just outside town; best reached by Taxi from central Harbin 哈尔滨. This park has successfully bred more than 1000 of these spectacular cats
Siberian tigers surrounding a bus Harbin
Seeing these powerful beasts up so close is quite an extraordinary experience. You’ll be glad you are in a protected bus and just hope that the engine doesn’t stall. The tigers seem well-looked after and especially well-feed. However, that brings us to the controversial part about visitng the park.
Siberian tigers having lunch in Harbin
Feeding live animals to the tigers
Visitors have the option to buy a variety of live animals to feed to the tigers; an option very popular with domestic tourists who love to see the ravenous tigers pounce on the cow that is made to slide out the back of a truck, the chickens that are hung for the tigers to torn out of people’s hands, and the goats that are just pushed through the wire gates to be mauled and ripped apart in a matter of seconds.
Tigers surrounding a tourist bus in Harbin’s siberian tiger park
The price of the live animal rises according to its size. Chickens are the cheapest and a mature cow the most expensive. Prices are listed at the ticket booth. It is not a spectacle for the squeamish and hyper-sensitive.
Siberian tigers having lunch in Harbin
While tigers may never be vegetarians, we don’t recommend participating in this type macabre gimmick: It is totally unnecessary. The tigers can easily be feed slaughtered meat and the idea of laughing and getting pleasure from watching another animal meet its end is rather distasteful. This apart, seeing the Siberian tigers in such close proximity is truly memorable.
“Bu kaifa, bu kaifa 不开发” it hasn’t been developed for tourism. That was our driver’s favourite motto.
So he took us to the “bu kaifa” village of Hongcun 洪村
洪村婺源
Hongcun 洪村 (Wuyuan 婺源, Jiangxi 江西省 Province).
The quaintest Village in China might be Hongcun 洪村. Hongcun, is surrounded by drop-dead gorgeous sub-tropical scenery. It is home to some wonderful Huizhou architecture and when we visited; no tourists
From the diary
Is this the quaintest village in China? After a copious and excellent lunch, which was at a restaurant opposite a huge ancient tree and seemed to be a favourite with tourist drivers, our man ( the driver) then took us to a remote and completely ‘undeveloped (bu kaifa 不开发)’ village called Hongcun (not to be confused with its more famous namesake in Anhui near Huangshan), where there wasn’t an entrance ticket or single other tourist in sight.
The place was extremely pretty and peaceful: on the outside, a line of elegantly greying houses stood beside a clear river winding its way through the rice fields.
Stunning Hongcun Village Wuyuan
Contented-looking ducks floated on the water, bamboo poles loaded with washing swayed gently in the wind, while farmers in conical hats tended to their fields.
In the narrow, shady streets towards the centre, local residents sat outside their doorways chatting, playing cards and cutting vegetables.
We found some people busy restoring a spacious wooden community hall. In fact, in spite of its lack of (tourist) development, the buildings in Hongcun were in remarkable shape and had some of the most intricate wooden carvings we’d come across.
A Relaxing Afternoon in Stunning Hongcun village
We sat down on a stone bench in the shade of a drapping tree to enjoy a lukewarm beer, bought from a hole-in-the wall shop without a fridge, and let ourselves drift into the unhurried pace of village life.
The locals, obviously not used to having foreigners in the village, eyed us up with friendly curiosity, often directing questions to our driver about who we were and what we were doing there.
With the hearty lunch now weighing heavy on our stomachs, making us feel both comatose and soporific, we just let our driver exaggerate our importance to the villagers.
We were now distinguished professors from a great overseas university and not merely humble English teachers from a university in Madrid; the locals seemed impressed and nodded approvingly at his every Word. Our driver was lapping it up!
Pity about the pipe ruining the photo
Normally, we would have underplayed our importance and protested our driver’s flattery, but we let it rest and everyone seemed contented. It was a perfect day and even the warm beer went down well!
Update: Hongcun has changed
As with everything in China in this century nothing withstands the changes of time and Hongcun is no exception. The village is now defiantly very Kaifa 不开发 (developed) for tourists. However, it is still beautiful and I am sure that on an off-peak day it can still be a lovely place to visit.
Some of the buildings have undergone tasteful restoration and the ancestor halls and guild halls that were being used for weaving and chili drying are now housing museums and teahouses.
Getting there and away:
Difficult when we visited. A hired car was the best option. Hongcun is located between Dazhang Mountain and Sixi and not too far from the famous Rainbow Bridge.
While the rapid modernization of China’s cities has made many of them very same same. Zhaoqing in Guangdong stands out.
The land of King Kong in the heart of Zhaoqing
Zhaoqing is quite a surprising city for these parts of China. Not only does it have an interesting old town, but it also has the most incredible landscape right in the heart of the city. Here are a few photos to intice you to read the whole article.
Strawberries and cream, a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, pescaito frito and a glass of cold dry sherry. And then there is Chengdu and it’s teahouses. There are just somethings that are marriages made in heaven.
Wenshu temple 文殊院, Chengdu 成都
Life is good: Drinking Tea
Tea drinking in the Wenshu Temple 文殊院 is a ‘Must‘ for any visitor to Chengdu 成都.
Not so long ago; depends what you mean by long;1989, when we first visited Chengdu, the city’s downtown streets were lined with rickety teahouses jam-packed with locals lounging on wicker chairs, chatting, playing mahjong and drinking tea. Above them hung their caged birds, brought along for extra company in the same way a dog is taken for a walk.
Wenshu temple 文殊院, Chengdu 成都
Unfortunatetly, as Chengdu rapidily modernised, most of roadside teahouses fell victims to the wrecking ball and disappeared, especially from downtown Chengdu. But scratch beneath the suface and many remnants of Chengdu’s teahouse culture can still be found alive and flourishing.
Wenshu temple 文殊院, Chengdu 成都
Chengdu’s Wenshu temple 文殊院
Welcome toChengdu’s Wenshu temple 文殊院 one of the best getaways from an ever more frenetic, burgeoning mega-city. It’s a place to forget the city noise and choking fumes, and instead catch up on local gossip or just chill for a few hours.
Wenshu temple 文殊院, Chengdu 成都
Having your ears cleaned or nails treated comes part and parcel with the whole experience; Covid 19 permitting!
Wenshu temple 文殊院, Chengdu 成都
Other recommended places in Chengdu to share a similar experience are the He Ming Teahouse 鹤鸣茶馆 in Renmin Park人民公园 and the peaceful Qingyang Taoist Temple 青羊宫。
Wenshu temple 文殊院, Chengdu 成都
These photos were taken on barmy August afternoon in the Wenshu Temple, Chengdu.
Are you looking for small traditional villages not far from Chengdu where Sichuan teahouse culture still survives: I would recommend the village below Luocheng. However, it is easier to reach Luocheng from Leshan rather than Chengdu.
A kilometre away from Cixi lies the village of Yancun, even less kaifa (developed) than Cixi, and with an equally impressive collection of buildings.
延村婺源江西省 Yancun village Wuyuan Jiangxi Province
Walking in Wuyuan
It’s a pleasant walk between the two villages (500 meters), either along the quiet road or through the rice fields. Interestingly, both villages have marked a walking route to allow the visitor to explore the best examples of Huizhou architecture.
延村婺源江西省 Yancun village Wuyuan Jiangxi Province
If you don’t wish to follow the routes it doesn’t really matter, as every turn of a corner and every side- alley provide a new voyage into time.
延村婺源江西省 Yancun village Wuyuan Jiangxi Province
Huizhou Style Architecture
Yancun is a compact village of Huizhou style architecture, a style that originated in neighbouring Anhui Province.
延村婺源江西省 Yancun village Wuyuan Jiangxi Province
The style and is characterized by two, sometimes three story buildings; depending on the wealth and ostentatiousness of the person who built them. On the outside, the walls are white and the roofs black tiled with eaves.
延村婺源江西省 weaving
Inside the buildings there is a hall /patio that usually has elaborately carved wooden frames hanging above it. Sometimes there is are more than one hall /patio.
延村婺源江西省 street scene
Life in Yancun
Yancun’s streets are a rabbit warren of narrow alleyways and passageways that entice the curious vistor to poke their noses around every corner.
延村婺源江西省 interior
Local residents didn’t seem fazed if you politely asked look around a private house and take a few snaps ( might have something to the money they receive from the entrance ticket to the Sixi 思系and Yancun延村 scenic area).
延村婺源江西省 old Kitchen
Yancun also offers the opportunity to come across still-in-use, ages old farm implements. These can be seen casually lying around on kitchen floors or hanging off living room walls. In the west, they would be expensive antiques sold in flea markets and rastros around Europe.
延村婺源江西省 Farmer’s hat
Every available space on the streets is used for drying something, especially chilies, which are laid out in large flat wicker baskests while and huge gourds dangle everywhere above your head.
延村婺源江西省 drying Chilis
Besides the Huizhou houses, there are a least three famous ancestral halls in Yancun; the Congting Hall, Mingxun Hall and Yuqing Hall.
延村婺源江西省 Transporting beer
All of them were originally built in the 18th century. What you see now may not be the original structure, as they are reported to have undergone restoration and some rebuilding since then.
延村婺源江西省 Hanging Baskets
When we visited, some these ancestral halls were still being used as spaces for basket weaving and other farming related activities. Nowadays, the halls are a ‘must see’ for passing Chinese tour groups.
延村婺源江西省 Drying chilis Yancun
The Mingxun hall has become a teahouse (not surprising given it was originally built by a tea merchant) and the Yuqing hall, has become a museum for antique furniture.
延村婺源江西省 Yancun village Wuyuan Jiangxi Province
However, the real charm in Yancun as mentioned at the beginning, is its idyll rural setting. Yancun is a village set up for gentle strolling and imbibing a fast disappearing way of life.
延村婺源江西省 Yancun village Wuyuan Jiangxi Province
延村婺源江西省 Yancun village Wuyuan Jiangxi Province
延村婺源江西省 Yancun village Wuyuan Jiangxi Province
Accomodation:
We stayed at a small family hotel on the edge of Cixi思系, the only brick and white tile building around. At the front, there was an open-fronted grocery shop and a restaurant. The clean and simple rooms with bathroom and hot water (no towels or toiletries though, so be prepared) were in a new building at the back and cost 80 Yuan for a large double.
延村婺源江西省 Yancun village Wuyuan Jiangxi Province
There were plenty of cheaper options in private houses in the village, and you can expect the offer to increase in the future. It is probably only a matter of time before some of those beautiful mansions will be converted into real hotels.
In 2003 while killing time between classes, I lazily typed into Google “the most beautiful village in China” and up came a few entries, one of which was written by a local girl from a place called Wuyuan. In poor English she raved about the beautiful scenery in this remote area of Jiangxi province. The few photos that accompanied her article showed picturesque white villages of superb Huizhou Architecture and rolling green fields brightened by the stunning yellow of ripening rape seed.
The undeveloped Village of Hongcun 洪村
In the next few weeks we will be uploading our photos of the villages in the Wuyuan area. We based ourselves in the bucolic and sleepy village of Sixi 思溪村 and spent several days hiking between villages and occasionally hiring a car to those village further afield.
Basket Weavers at work in Yancun 延村
Among the villages we visited were the undiscovered gems of Yancun 延村 and Hongcun 洪村 (now both very much discovered) as well as more Kaifa 开发 / developed places such as Likeng 李坑 and Upper上 and Lower下 Xiaoqi晓起.
At the Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海 we took our first organized Chinese tour since 1989. At first skeptical, we ended up having a marvelous day being led on long walks, carried over the forest on a cable car, rafting on a lake and being wined and dined on 16 different courses of bamboo food products. All led by a wonderful and enthusiastic guide.
Yibin Sichuan
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
To go on a tour or not
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海: taking a Chinese organised tour or should I go it alone ? There is really only one reason to stop at Yibin and that is to use it as a base to visit the fabulous Bamboo Sea some 70 kms away.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
To take a tour or not to take a tour
The first thing you have to decide is: do I visit the Bamboo Sea independently or do I join a tour. We doubted, wrung our hands, fretted and then the heavens opened and a twenty four hour torrential downpour insued; the matter was decided for us. We took a Chinese organsed tour for the first time and It was the best decision we could have taken.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
Yibin 宜宾
Yibin is a modern city on the confluence of the Jinsha River 金沙江 and Min Rivers 岷江 where they combine to officially start the beginning of the YangziRiver 长江. There really isn’t anything to see, apart from the intense river traffic perhaps. Tourists tend to use Yibin as a base for a visit to the spectacular Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海 (or Forest as it is also known), about 70 kilometres away and the nearby historic riverside town of Lizhuang Ancient Town 李庄古镇.
Yibin also has the unenviable reputation of being the largest city in China with the least sunny days every year (we didn’t see the sun). Remember, this is where the Chinese idiom, 蜀犬吠日 (Shu quan fei ri) the Sichuan dog barks at the sun, originates; becuase it is something so unusual.
On the plus side it produces one of China’s best Baijiu 白酒 ( rice wine) Wuliangye五粮液.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
Shunan zhuhai 蜀南竹海, or the Bamboo Sea covers over 40 square kilometres of mountains and valleys. The landscape is absolutely incredible: narrow paths will take you deep into a dense sea of vegetation, dominated by many different species of bamboo, some of which reaching heights of over 10 metres.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
The dense fog that often descends upon the forest contributes to the magic and enchanted atmosphere. Besides the bamboo, there are many waterfalls, temples, sculptures and reliefs in the rock walls to entertain the visitors.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
The cable Car
A ride in the cable car is a must; it’s a 30 minute ride during which you follow the side of the mountain up and down, at times almost touching the tree tops, at times sailing high above the undulating sea of bamboo. When the cabin reaches a peak, a valley completely covered in bamboo stretches out in front of you, for as far as the eye can see.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
It’s the typical landscape immortalised in famous martial arts films such as ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ or ‘The House of the Flying Daggers’, many scenes of which were shot around here. The famous fighting scene in the ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ where the protagonists fight on the tops of bamboo trees was filmed here.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
Organising a Chinese tour
Normally, we are not really into guided tours, but in the case of the Bamboo Sea we had a great time. You can try and hire a taxi to get there, but the distances are quite large, both getting there and back and inside the park, plus it isn’t that easy to find your way around and visit the best places.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
Our tour was organised by the travel agency inside our hotel, the Xufu Binguan. At first they were a bit reluctant to take us, but when they realised we could speak Chinese, our money was happily accepted. We were in good company, a group of young enthusiastic engineering students from Panzhihua 攀枝花 on the Sichuan – Yunnan border, led by a lively and dynamic female guide. She took us to different areas of the park, by bus, on foot, by cable car and finally rafting.
Sichuan Dialect Rap and Hip Hop
The bus driver, a young and jolly chap, played Sichuan dialect Hip Hop and Rap that had our fellow companions falling on the floor with laughter. The driver later helped us buy the DVD in on arrival back in Yibin.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
The Food
We also had the opportunity to taste 16 different dishes made of/with bamboo, including the famous and expensive bamboo eggs (which are really rounded wild mushrooms that grow underneath the bamboo trees). It was really delicious. The meal wasn’t included in the tour. We got together with members of the group, negociated a price for 16 dishes, and then split the bill.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
Yibin 宜宾 practicalities:
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
Where to Stay and Eat:
The Xufu Binguan叙府宾馆 in the centre of town is a good option. Spotless modern doubles with a good breakfast are 200 Yuan. There is a wide variety of decent restaurants and supermarkets near the hotel.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
Coming and Going:
Update:
New high speed trains from Chengdu take just one and a half hours to arrive in Yibin and pass through Leshan. The line opend on 2019 and also connects Yibin to Guiyang in Guizhou province.
China’s high speed trains
Bus:
From the chaotic main bus station, Beimen北门, there are regular departures to almost all import destinations in the region, though most buses will go through Zigong first.
Update
Nowadays, a network of highways links all the major cities making travel much easier than when we were there in 2005.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
Boat services to Leshan appeared to have been discontinued. Some services to Chongqing still seemed to run, though we were unable to confirm this.
Visiting the Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海 if not taking a tour:
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
Nan’an station, 15 minutes from the centre on the other side of the river, offers irregular services to Shunnan 蜀南竹海 / the Bamboo Sea, most of them with a changeover in Changning 长宁.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
The two main villages inside the park are called Wanling 万岭and Wanli万里. Both villages, as well as some other strategic locations inside the park, offer accommodation – with a typical double room costing around 100 Yuan – as well as food for those visitors who wish to stay the night.
Shunan Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海 Traditional Sicuan buildings near Yibin 宜宾
In 2005 our visit to the Bamboo Sea was part of a facinating trip from Guiyang to Chengdu via Chishui.
Giant Ferns Chishui 赤水
To get to Leshan 乐山 we first had to backtrack to Zigong; all in all quite a tiring ride of over 6 hours, due to the fact that the motorway has not reached this part of Sichuan yet. This has all changed now see above.
Coming next: The Bamboo Sea 蜀南竹海
Welcome to the Bamboo Sea near Yibin in Sichuan Province. Our next article looks back on a magical day in this mysterious sea of bamboo
