Harbin Ice Festival

Arrive in Harbin and meet your guide for the transfer downtown. After lunch on your own, spend the afternoon exploring Central Street (Zhongyang Dajie), where ice and snow sculptures line the sidewalks and winter swimmers sometimes perform on a stage in swimsuits despite the cold.  Continue to St. Sophia Church, built between 1923 and 1932 and once the largest church in the Far East. Used as a warehouse for years, it was renovated in 1997 and now operates as an architectural art museum, with doves nesting on its domes.

As night falls, head to Zhaolin Park to see the trip's most striking sight: illuminated ice sculptures built around a new theme each year, in a park built to commemorate a patriotic general from World War II.

After breakfast, head to Sun Island Park on the northern bank of the Songhua River, the festival's main site and home to elaborate snow sculptures. The river itself freezes solid enough to walk across, and much of the ice used for the festival's sculptures is cut directly from it.

From there, drive to Siberian Tiger Park, a breeding center working to protect one of the world's most endangered big cats. Cars move slowly through the park, giving a close look at the tigers through the vehicle windows.

The day continues at the Grand World of Ice & Snow, the festival's largest site, home to elaborate structures built entirely from snow and ice.
 

This morning, visit the Provincial Museum of Heilongjiang, a Russian-style building constructed in 1960 that covers the history of the province and the city of Harbin.

Afterward, walk through Stalin Park along the river, where locals skate and play on the frozen surface, and vendors sell snacks along the riverbank. In the afternoon, transfer to the airport for your departure flight.