374: Visiting Harbin

Zhang Li said to her friends,

"The seafood I sent you last time was caught by him."

"Oh! He really is handsome and promising!"

One of the aunties nodded and said.

"Aunties, my eldest aunt is exaggerating; I'm not that great. I'm just a Fisherman!"

Yang Qi greeted them immediately.

"A Fisherman is good! When we travel to your place in the future, you can just treat us with seafood. Hahaha."

The other auntie spoke up without standing on ceremony.

"That's definitely no problem, there will be plenty of seafood!"

Yang Qi said with a smile.

After finishing the meal, everyone went to the place opposite the restaurant to enjoy massages and foot baths, finally ending up in the rest area on the third floor.

Inside, there was a board game area, a water curtain movie area, a VR game area, a billiards area, a KTV area, a water bar, and so on. It was said that there were rooms on the fourth floor for overnight stays.

Northeast bathing culture is a comprehensive leisure lifestyle that originated in Northeast China in the 1990s. Centered around bathing, it integrates body scrubbing, steaming, dining, and entertainment, and has now become a nationally renowned regional cultural symbol.

The next day, the group arrived at the Ice and Snow World in grand fashion.

In 2008, Harbin Ice and Snow World featured the welcoming of the Beijing Olympics as its main content, with the theme 'Ice and Snow World, Olympic Dreams'.

Through the language of ice and snow, it shaped the origins and development of the Olympics, displaying the competition content on multiple levels and organically combining it with viewing, entertainment, and participation.

In January 2024, at the China Ice and Snow Tourism Development Forum, Harbin Ice and Snow World was recognized as the world's largest ice and snow theme park, earning a Guinness World Record title. It was also rated as one of the top ten cases of ice and snow culture in 2024.

The main landscapes include: the Dreamy Ice and Snow Pavilion, the Ice and Snow Food Pavilion, the Four Seasons Amusement Pavilion, the Ice and Snow Show, the Snowflake Ferris Wheel, the Ice and Snow Liaoning Ship, the Dream Grand Stage, the Snow Rhyme Lilac Main Torch, and more.

The Dreamy Ice and Snow Pavilion is the world's largest indoor ice and snow theme park created by Harbin Ice and Snow World, and it represents Longjiang's ice and snow in the eyes of foreigners.

It contains landscape groups such as the Ice and Snow Overture, the Ice and Snow Forest, the Drifting Ice and Cloud Snow, and the Snow Country Ice Castle, showcasing Harbin's original natural scenery and folk characteristics.

Areas like the Ice City Town, ice slides, and the Ice Cream World embody the survival wisdom of humans living in harmony with nature.

In addition, there are experience projects such as gauze curtain projections, an ice and snow concert hall, and a light and shadow hall.

The Ice and Snow Food Pavilion has a construction area of nearly 15,000 square meters. To ensure dining needs throughout the four seasons, more than 40 catering shops have been planned inside the pavilion.

These include catering brands such as Modern, Starbucks, KFC, Pizza Hut, Oriental Dumpling King, and Auntea Jenny.

It encompasses various hot and cold dining categories such as hot pot, barbecue, Japanese cuisine, and desserts.

Furthermore, in the central stage area, there are multiple special performances every day, with songs, dances, and music taking turns on stage.

The Four Seasons Amusement Pavilion is the largest indoor parent-child interactive theme park in the province, covering an area of about 13,000 square meters, providing free ice skates, helmets, and skating assistants.

The pavilion includes projects like a naughty castle, ice tracks, climbing, a Ferris wheel, a rotating lift tower, Interstellar Police, a carousel, a 5D cinema, escape rooms, VR Metaverse, and Hail of Bullets, which can meet the play needs of different age groups in one stop.

The Ice and Snow Liaoning Ship is based on China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning Ship. It is 65 meters long, 15 meters wide, and 13 meters high, with a barge as the base, steel structure welding as support, and ice blocks used to build the exterior. Typical features of the aircraft carrier, such as the take-off deck and the bridge, are all presented.

The Snowflake Ferris Wheel is 120 meters high, the tallest in the three northeastern provinces and a new landmark of Harbin.

At night, an LED color screen composed of 170,000 point light sources can not only present snowflake shapes but also allow for personalized text customization.

The Snowflake Ferris Wheel is equipped with 48 lunar-corona-shaped cabins, using four personalized space theme designs: parent-child, love, business, and KTV, with supporting catering, audiovisual, and air conditioning systems.

It's hard to imagine that the main bodies of these landscapes are all made from ice blocks from the Songhua River.

The first ice is harvested during the Major Snow solar term. Once the time comes, decision-makers, designers, and construction personnel all participate, using mechanical processing to create them.

Once again, the capabilities of the 'Infrastructure Maniac' were demonstrated before the people of the country and even the whole world.

The park was simply too large; Yang Qi and the others spent two days and still hadn't visited all the scenic spots or all the amusement facilities.

On the fourth day, the group came to Central Street again, as there was still half of the area they hadn't explored on the first day.

As the longest square-brick pedestrian street in Asia, Central Street is truly photogenic! The 1.1-kilometer granite road is lined with old European-style buildings.

When tired of walking, one can gnaw on a Modern ice pop and then go to the Churin Company for Russian-style tea snacks. When the lights come on in the evening, it feels like being transported directly to the streets of Europe.

As the sun set and the night grew thicker, the group, filled with expectation and curiosity, embarked on a journey to Saint Sophia Cathedral.

This magnificent building is like a dazzling pearl embedded in the ancient and mysterious land of Harbin, becoming the soul landmark of the city.

Looking from afar, the huge 53-meter-high onion dome is like a towering mountain peak piercing the clouds, giving people an unparalleled visual impact.

Looking closely, the exquisite carvings and decorations on the dome are even more breathtaking, as if every detail tells of the vicissitudes and glory of the years.

Walking into the interior of the cathedral, the colorful stained-glass windows are a feast for the eyes. Sunlight spills through the windows onto the floor, forming patches of brilliant and colorful light and shadow.

These stained-glass windows are not just beautiful decorations; they also contain deep religious meaning—each window tells a story from the Bible, bringing people into that world full of holiness and miracles.

At this moment, the unique blue-toned sky of the evening and the warm, soft yellow lights inside the cathedral set each other off, creating a dreamlike and magnificent atmosphere.

Being in the midst of it, people couldn't help but be intoxicated by this wonderful sight, and their moods became exceptionally peaceful and serene. It was simply amazing.

"Hubby, it's a pity Shanshan didn't come; she loves this kind of place."

Bai Xue said with a bit of regret. Yang Qi nodded without speaking.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the fifth day. This day was sunny and the breeze was pleasant as the group happily set out on their journey once again.

The destination this time was a mysterious place outside the city—Volga Manor!

This manor covers an area of 1.3 square kilometers and hides as many as 33 exquisite Russian-style buildings.

These buildings have a unique style, blending traditional Russian and Modern elements, which is eye-opening.

Especially after it snows in winter, the entire manor seems to turn into a dreamlike world, reminding one of the scenes in the movie 'Frozen'.