Transportation to the ice world is a bit tricky, so we walked across the river to get a free shuttle to the place.
It's funny how much easier it is to get around here in winter when the river basically becomes a giant highway.
We made a point of showing up right as the sun went down (about 4.30pm), so we could catch things before the cold got too brutal. Bonus: beautiful sunset.
They changed colours constantly.
Once inside, you see that it is truly a large world made entirely out of ice.
We just started wandering and checking out the various sculptures and activities.
MmMm ... Harbin Beer. Good stuff.
Most of the buildings have somce place you can go inside and slide around a bit on the ice.
Giant stairs ... made entirely out of ice. With little pieces of carpet to make them passable.
This place is big.
Zip line
There are all these cool slides on half the buildings. They're designed to be pretty slow and safe, so they're not as exciting as they could be :)
I had my only wipeout of the day right around here ... d'oh!
They wired up nearly all the ice for lighting, and this one was even set up to work like an equaliser display. The music choices up here in Harbin were all dominated by Russian pop/techno music ... 
Inside the coffee shop warming up. Much needed every 45 minutes or so.
Everything is made of ice here.
There's a skating rink, of course.
I love this sign. It says: "On cold days, it's slippery. Careful not to slip and fall down". "on cold days". In a giant city made entirely out of ice. Awesome.
Of course, have to mention the World Expo 2010 Shanghai. Because that's a big deal.
Hey, it's the Colosseum of Rome!
Awesome slides!
Wheeeeeeee!
Forbidden ice city!
Inside the Colosseum they had all these calligraphy and water paintings for some reason. All nice.
Coffee break #2. Brrr
Terracotta ice warriors!
Giant ice maze! It wasn't that complicated to prevent people from freaking out, it seems.
Yes, even a giant ice thermometer to tell you just how freakin' cold you are. Brrissimo!!!!
It feels way colder than that, for sure.
Me in a café a bit later. I need to lay off the coffee.
Getting ready to leave Sunday night near the train station, we were wandering around looking for delicious restaurants in which to eat. A bit harder than we thought it would be.
This year ended on a dark note for the Harbin ice festival when, two weeks after we were there, one of the ice blocks slipped off the top of the big entrance gateway sculpture and landed on some poor tourist's head. It turns out that not a lot o people survive 100kg+ falling on their head. Still, look up, and go check it out. Entirely worth it.