This is a long but hopefully interesting one - just thought I should warn you.

The winter continues to linger on here in Beijing, November 1st saw the first snow fall and 4 and ½ months on as I write this it snows once again. I think I have just about acclimatised after several years avoiding such bitter and dreary winters with sun soaked travels of Australia, South America and South East Asia - my skin is certainly the whitest it has been for some time that's for sure!

The above may suggest that I have been counting down the days for Beijing to thaw but I've actually quite enjoyed the winter, having tried my upmost to embrace the wintery months and take advantage of what they've had to offer - which is plenty. So, before you completely switch off....here are those embracements.

To start off 'Nanshan Ski Village'. It lies around an hour's bus journey from downtown Beijing but allows you to completely escape the skyscrapers to much fresher natural surroundings, feeding you a pleasant alternative to city life. This is where I spent a few weekends in January / February; taking the opportunity to make a much anticipated return to the slopes for the first time since New Zealand back in 2005. Nanshan cannot be compared to the more established resorts of Europe or North America but it certainly has enough to make it worth a visit and at £25 for a days pass including clothing & equipment hire, you really can't go wrong. Seeking more of a challenge I decided to attempt skiing, having found snowboarding down Nanshan's fairly basic runs a little tame. If I am able to upload the videos you will clearly see that the challenge I desired was upheld but, I am pleased to say, ultimately overcome by the 3rd visit.

Winter supposedly closes in China with the infamous 'Chinese Spring Festival', more commonly known as 'Chinese New Year' this year falling on February 14th. This 2 week annual holiday is the biggest and traditionally the most important event in the Chinese calendar and which also sees the world's largest human migration. A close estimate of 300 million Chinese travel both home and abroad using every last available inch of public transport to do so. A news broadcast stated that 820,000 long distance buses alone operated during this manic holiday period, ironically taking city migrants back to their home towns and families from small towns to the big cities.

Jess and I were no exception to the rule as we had decided to take a trip to North-eastern China based 'Harbin' not too distant from the Russian border. We opted to travel via sleeper train as opposed to flying, allowing us to save a little money whilst also having the opportunity to experience spring festival train travel. We knew purchasing the tickets would be an uphill struggle as there is no internet booking facility and tickets can only be purchased 5 days before departure. However, I trusted luck would be on my side and set off at 6:30am one snowy Sunday morning in order to queue and wait patiently for the 9am ticket office opening. Arriving at the ticket window at 10:30am, at which point I was fairly cold and p*ssed off, I was told that only standing tickets were available for the 19 hour overnight journey. Needless to say 5 days later we arrived safely at Harbin airport.

You may wonder what drew me further north during this time, to a place that has an average winter temperature of -17C; well, the answer is the 'Harbin Ice Festival'. After a choice glimpse at a TV advertisement for the spectacle, I immediately knew that I had to see it with my own eyes. The extremely cold climate lends itself nicely to this truly spectacular event which hosts scaled down versions of some of the worlds most iconic manmade structures; from China's Forbidden City to Rome's Colosseum, along with fun ice slides, skate / biking rinks and even an ice stage with accompanying dance floor - I have never seen such a short - diverse crowd dance to house music before! All in all the place certainly lived up to both its' reputation and my expectations and I would recommend a visit to anyone should you have the opportunity to do so.

To avoid a lengthier paragraph on describing the setting to you all, the adjoining photo album can once again type a 1000 words; after seeing them I am sure you will agree it is quite something. Besides, although the main focus of the trip, the 'Ice Festival' only made up a few hours of the Harbin adventure and there are a few more tales to be shared.

Braving the cold and ticking off the list of things to do and see in Harbin included a trip to the 'Snow Festival' which as the name suggests was the Ice Festivals whiter - smaller sister. Once again, very impressive and certainly worth seeing if you are in Harbin, it only seems less exciting due to what its' ice counterpart offers your eyes.

'PolarWorld' was another 'hotspot' on the tourist trail, basically an indoor zoo for cold climate animals and although the whale show accompanied by Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' was quite impressive I think you could be forgiven for not making PolarWorld a must see on your agenda. I'm really not sure as to why I choose to visit these animal enclosures, most likely just to remind myself of how much disdain I hold for them.

Considering the above comment you may wonder as to why I also visited Harbin's 'Tiger Park', home to around 300 of China's 5000 tigers that are currently in captivity - a related story of which has recently made BBC headlines http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8563673.stm. You didn't read wrong, China has around 5000 tigers in secure parks such as the one I visited, compared with just 50 that are free to roam in the wild. Unfortunately, we, the humans are to blame for this as we just can't seem to let them be without the urge to hunt them. During my safari of the park I was a little taken aback at seeing so many tigers in one setting and although not the expansive wild, the park was set on vast grounds with the tigers seeming healthy, happy and most importantly safe which is the next best thing I suppose. The parks good intentions could be questioned however, by the fact that you are able to purchase live animals that they send in to the tiger's domain, supposedly to help the tigers retain their natural predatory instinct. I have the feeling that it could simply be a money making scheme - either way I didn't invest.

I mentioned in my previous blog about 'unexpected occurences' providing some of the most memorable moments and Harbin provided another of those. On asking a mass of people for directions at a bus stop, one lady announced she was going to the same destination and we should share the bus journey together. A 10 minute conversation later and we had been invited to her Aunts house the following day (New Years Eve) to celebrate the year of the tiger's arrival. Arriving at 4pm we were greeted with a feast of traditional delicacies, some joyful to taste and others of which I was reluctant to do so, notably the chicken feet and marinated pork fat. Stomachs' bursting it was time for the history of tea (our new found friend patiently translated) and a swapping of cultural chronicles. Then the customary New Year preparation of Chinese dumplings which would have been happening in Chinese households throughout the country. I think it was at that point where I truly felt I was in China. Come midnight it was time for the 2nd meal and time to devour the dumplings we had made earlier; this to the booms of firecrackers outside; which incidentally you cannot avoid for the whole 2 week festival day or night!

Soon after it was time to say our goodbyes and thank our hosts for what had been a humbling experience, being at the centre of such generosity without expectant gratitude is a rare occurrence and something I will never forget.

So that is my 3 ½ days in Harbin signed, sealed and delivered. How I managed to write so much about such little time I'm not quite sure - apologies all round. I haven't even mentioned the horse drawn carriage ride across one of the many frozen rivers, neither the visit to the Russian style 'Sofia Church' or indeed anything about the heavy Russian / European influences in Harbin, apparent in the abundance of picturesque architecture that you'll see there; which at times made you feel as though you had stepped out of China all together.....Now, it's official....all has been brought to your attention.

Here's to the arrival of spring.

Warm regards,

Jonathan.