Chinese New Year! In Haerbin! 2009

SOOO!! Here we are in Haerbin China over the Chinese New Year. We went to see the famous snow and ice sculptures. This is on my Dad's list of 'must sees' for China. So we decided to come along for the ride. Like Aunt Sandy said 'don't be a ship sitter' so we didn't, although this is the snow...so yeah we went. The first night we went to the Disney themed ice place. On your right is what was waiting for us when we first got in. Below is Ben and Camille getting ready to go down a slide. I think it was supposed to be Donald Duck's boat.

Here is Ben and Camille again on Jack Sparrow's ship from Pirates of the Caribbean. Ben looks terrifying.

Ok here is Ben going down the slide at Donald's house. He said it was slippery. Figures its ice.

It was super cold and it was dark by five o'clock. The first night we had dinner at a Russian restaurant, and it was suuupperr good. Haerbin is about 500 miles from the Russian border. Dad said that was about as close to Russia as I was ever going to get. Very tragic really...

Tale as old as time is here with Beauty and the Beast. Don't take note of the ice people in the background. (which is Belle and Beast). Then here is me and I am trying to be funny by kissing Nemo. But he's to cute to be kidding around with.

Lions and tigers and bears OH MY!! Well we only had lions and tigers so two out of three. We hopped on a bus and toured around the Tiger Park. But there weren't just TIGERS in the park. Oh no. There were many other kinds of 'cats'. The black one you see is a jaguar. It had its back to us the entire time. I call it 'Ignoring the Annoying Tourist's'. It shows the jaguars inner thoughts. Roar. Ok he doesn't roar but the guy next to him does. He is a white lion. There was also a lioness near by. They both were BIG cats. But not nearly as big as the... (drum roll please)

The LIGER!!! Yes that's right folks a real liger. Ligers are real! It's only the head but still you can tell it stands out in a crowd. Ligers are extremely rare. Why? Because Heavenly Father didn't want Tigers and Lions to breed so when people force them too mostly the cubs die. But there are the few that do survive but the tiger and the lion have to grow up together or they won't mate.

Ok this guy is awesome. Talk about King of the Compound (where the tigers were). He sat there nice and still watching everyone and everything. These other lions here that are by each other are African Lions. They look really cold. Probably are, because it was really cold. Not exactly in their nature to be in the cold, more heat for them.

I put this picture up because I thought it was cute. The lion yawning. It was a perfect shot.

Now you are probably wondering why this picture of a skeleton is here. Well its a skeleton of a tiger soaking in some weird liquid. People drink it. I'm not kidding. People actually drink it. They think it is good for them!!! I think its nasty.

Onto the night....we went to a city made entirely of ice blocks! No joke! Huge buildings were made to look like monuments you see all around the world. The ice blocks come from the frozen river. There was Big Ben in London, Notre Dome in France, the Disney Castle and LOTS more. The one to your left is of the view from our hotel window. Pretty huh. Then there is us as a family at the very beginning of our tour.

Here is the big golden Buddha all lit up! And then there is the entrance/exit.

Here is Big Ben...or Notre Dome. I don't remember which one. Then there is a pretty castle that Mommy liked.

Here we are after our horse and sleigh ride around park. Check out his coat and hat! I hope no animals were sacrificed. The horse was nice though. Then here is a big slide. Daddy went down with Ben on the slide.

This is the front of the city. Notice the cars in the dark.















Here is the big snow park. It was really cool and cold. Even though there wasn't a lot of snow on the ground they would make snow and pack it and then people would carve. Here are our Ox's! Daddy, Mommy, and Camille. Daddy also got his one shot with a really REALLY big ox.

Mommy caught Daddy kissing Buddha girl!
Here I am. The graceful dancer inside. No so graceful on the outside.

This one was SOO cool! A huge place where you could sled, slide, ski, snowmobile, and they had ATV's! ALSO dog sledding! I guess Santa really does live up north.

OOOKK!! Remember the lions? WELL they get hungry so what is a tourist to do? FEED THEM!! But only in China (where you can't get sued for animal rights, don't tell anyone. Shhh....)

You get to pick your own! We picked a semi fat one.

OK enough of that...poor Camille she cried. We had to teach her about (1) the meaning of life for animals (2) the food chain. Oh boy...

So here was the last day. Mom, Dad, and Ben went to see St. Sophia's Cathedral. Camille was not feeling well (I wonder why. HEHEHE) So I stayed behind. And besides putting on five layers every time just to go outside was getting old. So I got to stay in one layer. Mom said that it was cool. Not as cool as our temples but cool.

Here is the only picture we have of our tour guide Mickey. Yes her name is Mickey. Because she likes Mickey Mouse.

This was a food cart that we saw a lot. It had all kinds of fruits on a stick. So a fruit kabob that had like a syrupy coating on top. Didn't try it but it looked good. We stay away from street vender's.

SOO another great trip a success! We went, we saw, we conquered! So stay tuned for our next great adventure from The China Travelers!