Spring Festival Trip to Northeast China (Part 1)

During the past week, we went to the northeast part of China to partake in some of the frozen festivities that occur up there.  Over the next several days, I will be posting little parts of our trip with pictures.  On our first day, we arrived in Harbin, and, though we had brought enough clothes, we weren't quite mentally prepared for the cold.  On top of that, because it was the first of the Chinese new year, nobody was out - and no shops were open.  But that didn't matter too much, since we were tired and willing to call it an early night.  We did get some photos of the lighted ice sculptures that were near our hotel in front of the train station.  These were just a small sampling of what was to come later (Yes, they are completely made of ice, and if you try to lick it, your tongue will get stuck).