Harbin ice festival, chagan lake winter fishing and rime island

Highlights:

– Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, the largest ice and snow festival in the world. the world’s biggest ice sculptures.
– The winter Fishing Festival at Chagan Lake, a National Intangible Cultural Heritage of the People’s Republic of China.
– Rime Island (Wusong Island) in Jilin, which is reputed as one of the ‘China’s Top Four Natural Wonders’.

D1: Arrival in Harbin

your private guide and driver will be on time and waiting for you in the arrival hall. Transfer to your hotel with a comfortable private non-smoking car.

Having the most bitterly cold winters among major Chinese cities, Harbin is heralded as the Ice City for its well-known winter tourism and recreations. Harbin is notable for its beautiful ice sculpture festival in the winter. Besides being well known for its historical Russian legacy, the city serves as an important gateway in Sino-Russian trade today, containing a sizable population of Russian diaspora.

D2: Harbin

Sightseeing and activities：
– St. Sophia Cathedral and Sophia Square (1 hour – 2 hours)
– Zhongyang Pedestrian Street
-Take the cable car over the Songhua River at Tongjiang Square directly to sun Island.
– Sun Island (1 hour -2 hours)

Activities after 16 o’clock
-Ice and Snow World
-Zhaolin Park
-Ice Lantern Garden Party

D3: Harbin – Chagan Lake

– Siberian Tiger Park, largest breeding center in the world for Siberian tigers (1 hour)
– Lao DaoWai

After lunch we drive 270km to Chagan Lake, it takes about 4 hours.

D4: Chagan Lake – Rime Island

Activities in the morning: Watch the winter Fishing tradition on Chagan Lake.
Chagan Lake is the only place that saves the oldest Mongolia fishing method. It is listed as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage of the People’s Republic of China.

The annual Winter Fishing Festival is held to remember the old winter fishing tradition. Fishermen first drill many holes through the thick ice and then place net under the ice. The Lake set a Guinness World Record of a single net that yielded 104,500 kg (230,400 lb) fish in 2005, and broke its own record with168,500 kg (371,500 lb) of fish in 2008.

After luch drive 350km to Rima Island in Jilin city, it takes 5 hours.

D5: Rime Island, rime scenery

Rime Island in Jilin city is one of the best well-known scenic spots in China which boasts beautiful rime scenery. Along with the natural landscapes in Guilin, stone forest in Yunnan and Three Gorges on the Yangtze River, Rime scenery in Jilin is reputed as ‘China’s Top Four Natural Wonders’.