Wonderland

So, this is the deal.  Every year, they hue blocks of ice from the Songhua River, stack them into amazing structures, and light them up.
Snow covering the ice — and sometimes blowing along the ground in gelid flurries —  affords traction.  As does strips of carpet, judiciously frozen into place on steps.The whole thing is like Disneyland at Christmastime!  Although, to be honest, parking & concessions seemed to be run as badly as a county fair.




In one area, giant video screens flanked a wall of ice blocks, lit from behind in a moving, psychedelic mandala…

Thankfully for my frozen hands, some of the pieces were indoors…
…including this nightmare-fuel version of Santa Claus…
…and the saddest pandas I’ve ever seen.This one whispered, “Kill me…”Tucked in the back are some even stranger, lonelier places.  Like this meticulously carved rendition of a log cabin made of packed snow…
…or this ominously vacant swimming pool, surrounded by cracked ice…
But the strangest area by far was way back in the corner:  the “Russian Culture Park.”  

Not sure what a woolly mammoth has to do with Russia, but it was certainly appropriate given the temperature.  The Russians also carved a cliff out of packed snow which reminded me of the Grand Canyon.
I especially loved these little guys.

The rest of the place was clearly a celebration of China, however.
Everything from a representation of the Great Wall…
…to a row of ice statues for each of the animals in the Chinese Zodiac…
…including mine, the tiger.
Lest we forget the Chinese name for this festival –冰雕节 (bīngdiāo jié meaning “ice carving festival”) — there were these blocks of ice, ready for artisans to work their craft.
Some blocks more ready than others.For the kids, though, there were lots and lots of slides.
Children tobaggoned down giant slalom runs.
Some ending in more ice castles……and others merely ending in mommy’s arms.
There was also a vast frozen lake for people to slide around on……dotted with playful designs like ice block “hedge mazes” or these Olympic rings.For a So Cal kid with a high center of gravity, walking across the ice was harrowing…..but if you ever get too tired of walking around, you can always take a ride in a reindeer-pulled sleigh!Insert obligatory “reindeer games” joke here.And then — just when you thought it couldn’t get any more like Disneyland — there were fireworks! 
  
Beautiful.  Simply beautiful.  And this post gave me a chance to use the word “gelid” which I’ve been trying to work into conversation for years now.  So, bonus.

Finally, I’d like to sincerely apologize to every single woman I’ve ever made fun of for being cold.