This year, the "Ice City" of Harbin has attracted the attention of Vietnamese tourists, who have registered for tours early. Since October, many companies have opened Harbin tours departing in December, Christmas and New Year. Customers have booked tours early, with prices ranging around 30 million VND, compared to 32-35 million VND in previous years.
There are also more experiences in Harbin this year, attracting a 15-20% increase in Vietnamese tourists compared to the same period last year. According to a representative of a travel company in Hanoi, in November the company had 4 groups of customers buying Harbin tours, each group of 25 people. From December 2024 to February 2025, the company will open more charter flights with a frequency of 4 flights per month.
What's interesting in Harbin?
Harbin is located in northeastern China, the 8th most populous city in the country, and is also the political , economic, scientific, industrial, cultural and communications center of the northeastern region.
The capital of Heilongjiang province is known as the "City of Ice" or "Moscow of the East" because of its cold climate and is a popular winter tourist destination. The average annual temperature here is 6 degrees Celsius, with a high of 23 degrees Celsius and a low of -16 degrees Celsius, with long winters and short summers.
Not only Chinese tourists, but also tourists from many Asian countries flock to Harbin because of the ice sculpture festival with a history of decades (since 1963), the world's largest scale.
From early December when the temperature drops and the Songhua River freezes, workers will cut and transport ice blocks from the river, bring them back to carve, connect, use tools such as shovels, saws to cut, polish, and shape the artistic sculptures. In about 3-4 weeks, this work will be completed to display and welcome visitors.
The amount of ice used is more than 200,000 m3 (about 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools). A typical truck carries 4-7 m3 of ice at a time, so at least 30,000 to 50,000 truck trips are required to transport it.
Attractions in Harbin
Sun Island Scenic Area
Located on the north bank of the Songhua River, Sun Island is the city's largest scenic area, covering 15 square kilometers. The natural scenery here is European-style, with tall ancient trees, vast marshes, and sunbathing beaches.
The Ice and Snow Art Museum is the highlight of the area with its ice sculptures and snow landscapes. There are also Yu Zhixue Art Museum, Russian Art Exhibition, Northern Folk Art Museum, Harbin Ice and Snow Culture Exhibition and many other spaces to visit. Russian-style town and Harbin-Niigata Friendship Park are where visitors can learn about many unique customs.
Harbin Amusement Park
Located on Sun Island, this is the world's first polar animal show theme park. Visitors can enjoy performances by cold-climate animals such as beluga whales, Antarctic penguins, polar bears and Billy the sea lion accompanied by famous songs.
Ice and Snow World Park
Located on the north bank of the Songhua River, west of the Harbin-Heihe Expressway, adjacent to Sun Island, the park is a vast ice and snow paradise that integrates animation, acrobatic shows, and ice sculpture exhibitions that combine technology and culture. When it gets dark, the ice and snow world becomes even more brilliant and magical.
Central Street
Built in 1898, it is now a bustling commercial street with a total length of 1,450 m, starting from the Songhua River Flood Control Monument in the north to Jingwei Street in the south. Central Street has many Western-style architectural works with nearly 300 years. Coming here, visitors feel like they are on Regent Street in London, Champs Elysees in Paris, Linden in Berlin, Ginza in Tokyo or the Bund in Shanghai.
Siberian Tiger Park
This is the world's largest Siberian tiger breeding center and a rare animal park that combines entertainment, education and recreation. The park was built on the basis of protecting rare animals with the aim of returning tigers to the forest and taking care of their spirits. It includes an adult tiger park, a cub park, a deer and bear park, a science education center and an entertainment area.
Yabuli Ski Resort
Located 25 kilometers southeast of Yabuli Town, Shangzhi City, this is the largest ski resort in China, having hosted many Asian and world winter sports competitions. With complete facilities, the self-contained mountain villas can accommodate thousands of people.
Festival program 2025
This year's Harbin Ice and Snow Festival opens on January 5, 2025, but the ice sculptures and many activities will start in mid-December and last until the end of February 2025.
The Central Park is open from 10am to 10pm daily. The best time to visit is around 3pm to see the daytime ice sculptures and the evening light show. If you want to avoid the crowds, you should go outside of these hours.
Visitors should not stay inside for more than 4 hours because the temperature drops very quickly after sunset, affecting health.
Some other activities of the 2025 festival:
Fireworks: December 31, 2024
Ice sculpture exhibition: Christmas
International visitors are advised to visit Harbin from January 6 to 20, 2025, when the festival will open, and also avoid the New Year holiday when domestic tourists flock in large numbers.
Tourists can buy a tour or travel independently. There are no direct flights from Vietnam to Harbin, so they must transit at least one airport such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, or Beijing. Round-trip tickets cost from 3 million VND per person.
TH (according to VnExpress)Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/cap-nhi-tan-diem-den-mua-dong-hut-khach-viet-398951.html
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