Journey into the heart of winter at China’s Harbin International Ice & Snow Festival
Embrace the frozen glory of winter in this journey to China’s frosty northeast and experience the Harbin International Ice & Snow Festival in all its winter wonder. From Beijing head to the remote north of the country to discover a city shaped by Russian as well as Chinese culture and experience a festival that’ll take your (frozen) breath away.
Built to accommodate Russian engineers working on the Trans-Siberian Railroad in the 19th century, discover Harbin’s Russian and Jewish heritage on a guided walking tour
Experience Harbin’s International Ice & Snow Festival, a vast winter wonderland of the biggest and most elaborate ice sculptures in the world
Tour the festival with a local guide during the day and again at night, when the frosty re-creations of famous buildings, monuments and characters are lit up in technicolour
Train travel is intrinsic to Chinese life. Bunk up with locals and other travellers on an overnight sleeper train from Beijing to Harbin, and experience a high speed train back the other way
This trip involves two long train journeys including an overnight hard sleeper train from Beijing to Harbin. Train travel in China may not be entirely luxurious, but it's certainly one of the best ways to come face-to-face with the country and its people. It's the main form of transport for locals, so take the chance to interact.
Temperatures in northern China in January are extremely cold, especially in Harbin. It can easily get as low as -35° C. As you’ll be spending a lot of time outdoors exploring the city and the festival, it’s vital that you pack extremely warm and waterproof clothes, including a coat, hat, gloves, scarf, boots and thermals.
We pack a lot in, in a short amount of time, so if you have some time to spare we highly recommend extra time and Beijing.
Trip departures are unavailable.
There are currently no scheduled departures on our China's Harbin Ice Festival trip. If you are interested in other trips in the region visit one of the links below.
1. A Single Supplement is available on this trip, excluding overnight trains.
2. A scanned copy of the personal details page of your passport is required at time of booking or no later than 30 days before departure in order for us to purchase your train tickets.
3. Temperatures at this time of year in Harbin can be well below freezing. Please ensure you bring appropriate clothing and footwear.
4. Overnight train accommodation on this tour is in 6-berth ‘hard-sleeper’ class. Bedding is provided and wash basins and toilets (squat/western) are available in each carriage, but there are no shower facilities. An upgrade to Soft Sleeper class is available on this trip.
5. Please note while traveling through mainland China you will not be able to access some popular internet websites.
6. This trip starts with a welcome meeting at 2pm on Day 1.
Want an in-depth insight into this trip? Essential Trip Information provides a detailed itinerary, visa info, how to get to your hotel, what's included - pretty much everything you need to know about this adventure and more.
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