A dreamlike Christmas
December already! Where did the year go?! This month has been a very special month for me because I had a very last-minute visit from someone very special, the scholars went on a road trip to one of the coldest places in china and of course… Christmas!!!
Earlier this month I received the best Christmas present ever- my dearest granny came all the way from Scotland to visit me and my wonderful new life here in 中国. I can officially say it was and still is VERY COLD in 天津now! However this did not stop us from exploring beautiful parts of 天津 （Tianjin）and 北京（Beijing） I had never been to before as well as the main attractions including ancient culture street, the Italian Quarter, 天津水工公园 （the water park）, 天安门广场 (Tiannmen Square), cute little markets, my favourite local walks and cafes, 宾海宫公园 （Binhai park）, trying Chinese street food, hot pot, and we even managing to go to 山海关 （Shanhaiguan） where the Great Wall meets the ocean (recommended by my fellow scholars). My gran and I had an unforgettable time in 中国 together!
Our adventures & street food we found in 北京。
Tianjin’s water park, ancient culture street, river walk and the Great Wall (Shanhaiguan) 。
Just before Christmas, some of us scholars took the overnight train to one of China’s coldest winter cities - Harbin (north east 中国). Compared to our long Xi’an train journey on hard seats (which is certainly a great experience and you need to try at least once in your life), I would recommend booking beds - it made such a difference!
We all knew straight away when we arrived in Harbin as we could see the entire city was white and we could all feel the chill seeping through from outside. Luckily we were prepared with layers of warm clothes. First on our tour we visited a large Russian influenced park/mansion called Volga Manor with several buildings, palaces and a church holding both intriguing and intricate details in its architecture. It can be perfectly described as a true winter wonderland where the beauty and colour stood out in the contrasting white environment from which they are seen in.
We even went tubing down the snow path at the palace. It was so fast and so much fun! Although I got brain freeze.
We stopped off to try some glasses made of ice. We spent more time taking photos of what we thought was a ground-breaking invention that we forgot the fact that ice melted (so we had to quickly gulp down our drink that ended up becoming very watery and diluted).
We spent the rest of our first day and the morning of our last day exploring Russian influenced streets, markets, we even stopped to take pictures of the beautiful St. Sofia’s church after filling ourselves up with delicious Harbin traditional dishes (not really vegetarian friendly but we had other very delicious meals). At the markets we had the opportunity to buy delicious Russian chocolate and try a traditional Harbin delicacy- Harbin ice cream! Lots of the shops just stored their ice creams and food items outside as this was their cheapest and most natural fridge.
While exploring some of the beautiful streets in Harbin we learned that the traditional Chinese restaurants would hang a string of lanterns (noodle lanterns) outside their restaurant’s entrance to show whether their restaurant is halal (blue lanterns), small restaurant (1 noodle of 3 lanterns), larger restaurant (2 noodles of 3 lanterns), and a 5 star restaurant (4 noodles of handing lanterns). Kate is pointing out that this traditional Chinese restaurant in the picture is a very small one (maybe with only a few tables and chairs inside) as it only has 1 set of 3 hanging lanterns at its entrance.
Harbin ice cream wasn’t the only thing we tried in Harbin. A few of the boys were brave enough to try insect skewers - maggots and crickets were the most popular ones. Arran told me it tasted just like chicken!
Our tour group finally visited the main attraction we had come all this way to see and it sure was the ‘ICE’ing on top of the cake - ‘Harbin’s Ice and Snow World’. This is the where the world’s largest ice festival takes place, consisting of many life-sized ice sculptures of famous landmarks, pagodas, castles, towers, bridges, a maze and ice slides. We all went for the spectacular opening day when the colourful LED lights were switched on for us to experience the whole city lighting up. It was safe to say there is no way this ice city would melt anytime soon (especially not in the -20 degree weather we experienced that day!) We wondered from one colourful, gigantic sculpture to the other in awe! There aren’t any words fitting for these breath-taking monuments we saw! WOW WOW WOW!!! The fact that EVERYTHING was made from ice blew my mind! Here are some photos from the ice city yet they still don’t do the real-life beauty justice:
Suzie and I at Beijing’s temple of heaven (one of my favourites):
We only stayed for 2 hours however that was a perfect amount of time because we were able to go around and admire the beauty of everything, absorb as much of the atmosphere as we could, grab a hot coffee, feel the ice bridges, take a trillion photos….with every extraordinary sculpture, try out the ice slides and try making our tears turn to ice drops. Suzie and I both admit that it was painfully freezing at times trying to take our hands out of our two gloves and hand warmer to take pictures however it was so worth it. Because it was so cold, I noticed I had acquired little frozen droplets on the tip of my eyelashes which Suzie and I found super cool! I wore 6 layers, so I was very warm and enjoyed every minute! If anyone has this amazing opportunity to visit this phenomenal place, then do it! These 2 hours spent here have been my favourite 2 hours in China so far! You’ll never get an opportunity like this to experience anything so spectacular in the entire world; it’s one of a kind-believe me!
I am nearly finished…. I promise!
This year we had a very different but very special Christmas (圣诞). This festive period is not widely celebrated here in 中国 although seeing the odd Christmas tree here and there was a lovely reminder that it was indeed the Christmas month. My roommate and I decorated our room with tinsel, fairy lights, a mini Christmas tree and some presents under the tree (well... under the table with the tree on it). My roommate loves Christmas so as soon as she realised it was the first few minutes of December the 1st the classic and modern Christmas tunes were blasted in room 6621 (our room).
On Christmas Eve, Arran, Jack and myself attended the local church’s Christmas service which was lovely. Afterwards, we all went to a Chinese restaurant next door for dinner with our friends Jennie and Sam from church. It was fabulous to spend some time with them!
Before we went to class on Christmas morning, Sharna and I gave each other our presents and then all the scholars gathered in our social area to give our secret Santa presents. It was wonderful to see everyone smiling and opening presents together as it is a tradition we all share, reminding us of home. After class, a few of us turned up to church for what we thought was an English service. However, we got a little mixed up with the timings so just ended up sitting on the pews, admiring the stunning details on the roof and windows. We then treated ourselves to a cheeky wee Christmas coffee at Costa and a little snack from Paris Baguette while talking about traditions we normally pursue in our own homes every year. I think the 25th was probably the most difficult time we’ve had away from our families so far however just talking about our loved ones at home with all the other scholars made it that little bit easier! For me, 圣诞has always been about appreciating family time and how lucky we are to be living this wonderful life we are living (especially in China- still seems surreal when I think about it).
I sent some presents and postcards back with my granny so that when I WeChat videoed my family after our Christmas outing, I could watch my family open their presents on what was their Christmas morning, so I could still be with them. In the evening, all the scholars tried to make this Christmas extremely special for each other, so we all chipped in and donated our Christmas tinsel and decorations from our rooms to make the open area look festive and homely. Everyone brought their own food to the table as well as some shared snacks split between us all. We enjoyed each other’s company, chatted, played charades and ate together before our friends Sam and Simba came down to join us from 9th floor. Even though this wasn’t our normal Christmas Day, for me, it was even more special because I got to spend it with my new family here in China!
Anyway, I apologise for writing such a long blog but I hope you managed to live some of these incredible experiences through me and my blog end enjoyed it as much as I did experiencing all of it.
I will write to you next year…
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! 新年快乐大家 ！
With Love爱，
Kai Lin凯琳 x