About 500km from the Russian border lies a small (by Chinese standards - it has a population of 4 million) ..About 500km from the Russian border lies a small (by Chinese standards - it has a population of 4 million) city called Harbin. Apparently it's quite famous but I'd never heard of it before (not that you should use my lack of knowledge as a benchmark), especially the ice festival that they put on every year. Hannah and I thought it would be a great way to open the new year by travelling to Harbin, where in winter the temperature averages around -20 Centigrade, to enjoy the festival. We used a local company that specialises in tours around China for non-Chinese speaking people and were given an itinerary which involved travelling up to Harbin on a sleeper train, going to the ice festival, spending a night in a hotel, doing various other activities the next day and then flying back to Beijing in the evening ...   more »