Traveling the World #52 (Asia Series) Snow Sculpture on the Sun Isl...

Hi Steemians

Today I will be taking you the coldest place I’ve ever been to - Harbin. Harbin is situated north of China and is famous for its very cold weather which can be as low as -24 degrees or -38 degrees which was the coldest ever recorded. Prior going on this trip to Harbin, my friends and I thought it won’t be too bad as we take the cold quiet well due to our snowboarding adventures together. But let me tell you, the coldness in Harbin is a level we didn’t expect. To start off our Harbin adventure, I would like to take you to the Snow Sculpture on the Sun Island.

今天我會帶你們到我去過最冷的地方 - 哈爾濱。哈爾濱是在中國的北邊而是最有名就是這裡的冷天氣。平常最冷的是零下24度而最冷的紀錄就是零下38度。去哈爾濱之前，我跟朋友覺得我們應該可以應付得來的因為我們已經有很多滑雪的經驗。我告訴你們，我們的想法跟現實是太大分別了 - 這個地方實在太冷啦！我先帶你們去太陽島國際雪雕藝術博覽会看看。

The Harbin International Snow Sculpture Art Expo is held on the Sun Island every winter showcasing a range of sculptures in all sorts of shapes and sizes. It all started in the 1980s when the locals started making snowman and different shapes where this expo was eventually formed. During our visit, we saw people participating in snow carving competition which has participants from all around the world. Due to the long winter Harbin has each year (60-70 days in a year), it is considered as the “the biggest ice and snow carnival in the world”.

太陽島國際雪雕藝術博覽会每年都會在太陽島舉行。這裡有很多不同用雪做的雕塑。這個戶外展覽會是80年代開始的。當時的居民開始做雪人和其他形狀，然後就慢慢建立這個戶外展覽會。我們當天看到有很多人參加他們舉辦的雕塑比賽而很多參加者都是從不同國家來的。因為哈爾濱的冬天比較長（每年差不多有60-70天）, 所以這個地方可以是說 ”世界最大的冰和雪的嘉年華"。

Once we arrived, we were greeted with some locals wanting to make business with us - i.e. go on their horse carriage, the mini train etc. We decided to just look around and take in what is around us first and decide if we wanted to go on those rides. As it was my first day there, I didn’t look very comfortable at all. Note that I have used my scarf to cover my mouth and nose. This because when I try to breath without it, the coldness just makes me cough every time I breath in.

我們剛下車的時候，很多人跟我們介紹他們的服務比如坐馬車，坐小型火車等等。跟他們談了一會我們確定自己慢慢看。因為當天是我們到步的第一天，我真的不習慣哈爾濱的天氣。你看到我要把圍巾蓋過我的口和鼻子因為每次呼吸，冷的空氣讓我常常咳嗽。真的非常辛苦

The carriages were nicely decorated but we didn’t go on them. Also there were many games set up on the snow but not many people were interested with them. You can also take pictures with these deers which costs us around $5AUD。 We didn’t know the price was per person as my friend and I took a photo together so we argued with them and only paid $5AUD.

你可以看到馬車上的裝飾非常漂亮但我們沒有打算坐他。這裡還有很多在雪上的活動但好像不是很受歡迎。你也可以跟這些小鹿拍照但要$5澳幣。我們開頭不知道是每個人$5 不管是一起照或者是單獨照所以很快就一班人一起照一張。這個人要我們付每個人$5澳幣的，跟他爭論一會就我們只是給他$5澳幣。

Look at how big this sculpture was - this was just at the entrance. We were so excited already just seeing this huge snow sculpture.

你可以看到這個在門口的雕塑這麼大。看到這個我們整班人非常期待裡面還有什麼東西看

Taking photos with the snowman are free

跟雪人照相是免費的哈哈

Due to the cold weather, we like to take a break every now and then to keep ourselves warm. Another reason was the camera keeps on freezing due to the weather. We were lucky to actually get so many photos during our trip at Harbin due to the coldness. Once we are inside these warm huts, we just chatted and enjoy a hot cup of beverage - like the one below which is a hot chocolate.

因為外面太冷的關係，我們喜歡走一段時間就休息一下。還有因為天氣非常冷，我們的照相機又時候不動所以要等一下才可以用。這次在哈爾濱我們非常幸運可以照很多照片因為我們出發之前就是害怕照相機會不動。在室內休息的期間我們一邊聊天一邊慢慢喝我們點的熱飲料 - 我比較愛喝熱巧克力

After some warm drink, we decided to head out again. More and more people are coming in to see the sculptures - many of them are actually locals.

喝完暖的東西之後，我們就繼續我們的行程。已經開始多人來看雕塑，很多看起來像是本地人

These people are actually participating in the sculpture competition. Most of them have 3-4 people in a team and the bigger ones we saw are at least with 6 people. Many of the participants we saw on the day were foreigners.