Harbin

This page is about **Harbin**. Look above at **"Discussion"** to post or answer questions.Use the **table of contents** on the right to help you navigate through this page. If you want to **add stuff**, use the edit button on the right (also see tips on the Guidelines page).

=General Harbin Information=

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=Harbin Hotels=

Holiday Inn

 * Location**: Central Street. The location of the hotel is about 5 mins walk to St Sophia cathedral, about 15-20 mins to Zhaolin Park. Other hotels that are in a better location are the Sheraton and the Jingu Hotel.
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 * Description**:


 * Price**(approx): about 900 RMB per night incl breakfast
 * Kid Friendly Features: baby cots available (**the cot does have a drop side. And there was no mattress, but rather a large pile of soft blankets for the baby to sleep on.)
 * Other Details:** buffet breakfast with fruit, breads, yogurt, omelettes made to order, and Chinese fare**.** Rooms warm, no need for extra thick pajamas.

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=Harbin Restaurants=

Restaurant 1

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Restaurant 2

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Restaurant 3

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Restaurant 4

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=Other Information=

Zhaolin Park

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 * Other Details:** Has an ice sculpture exhibition. It opens at 5:30 pm and it is best seen at night. A lot of the sculptures have lights inside, which is sometimes tasteful and at other times looks like a tacky seaside resort with neon strip lighting. Some of the sculptures are like buildings themselves, so you can walk on ice bridges and take photos next to ice pagodas. It is all very spectacular! The only downside is that as soon as the sun disappears, the temperature also plummets, so you can't stay out for long.

Sun Island

 * Location**: Across the river
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 * Description**: Not an island. It's a big park area to see the ice sculptures of animals, cartoon characters, flowers, buildings and stages.
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 * Kid Friendly Features**: Trolleys will transport you from one area to another. There is an ice-slide playground too, for adults or big kids!
 * Other Details:** Getting there has reportedly been problematic. You can take the cable car across the river to get there. See the entry in the "Getting There and Around" section below.

Siberian Tiger Park

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 * Description**: Tiger park, which has mainly Siberian Tigers, with also lions and ligers roaming the property. In caged facilities there were also leopards, and poor freezing cold jaguars.
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 * Kid Friendly Features**: The caged area was on a ramp with few steps, so strollers are feasible. The voyage through the tiger/lion park is on a bus, so it's possible to take the little ones on safely.
 * Other Details:** It is true you can buy live pheasants, goats, chickens, or smaller strips of raw meat. The bigger the "meal" the more expensive.You buy your "meal" at the main front area. Later when your bus goes into the park, zookeepers will deliver the purchased meals next to your bus (you stay inside of course). You don't know if your particular bus will have a meal to deliver or not, so there's no way to know if you will see the animals feeding unless you purchase it yourself. That said, there's also no way to avoid seeing this feeding frenzy unless you avoid the bus ride all together, or are lucky to be on a bus where no one purchased food. So you don't know if there will be a strip of meat, a goat, or nothing thrown at the animals. It is something to consider if you have little kids with you who might not like the sight of blood, or seeing little Mr. pheasant struggle to fly away. That could be a good time to break out the iPhone if you don't want your kids to see it. All that said, it is pretty fascinating to watch. This is a tiger breeding center, and their main income is from tourism, therefore, the animals are exploited for tourist income.

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=Getting There and Around=

Getting across the river to Sun Island
Getting taxis to and from the location of the snow sculptures has reportedly been a challenge. Alternatively, you can walk to the cable car and take that across the river, to Sun Island. The views of the river in the cabin are quite astonishing when you remind yourself that this vast expanse you're travelling over the top of, is actually a river. It simply looks like a white field. You can walk across the river too, but we did not fancy that with a little baby. Once you get off the cable car, you only need to walk down one street and you are at the park. Cable car cost about 120 RMB return