THE FROZEN SONGHUA RIVER

After the Russian Park, we stopped by at Songhua River. Dekat ja.. just across the road from the Russian Park area.

The Songhua River (Chinese pinyin: Sōnghuā Jiāng) is the largest tributary of the Heilong River. It ranks the fifth longest river in China, runs about 1,897 kilometers long and covers a drainage area of 545,600 square kilometers. The source of the river is a crater lake called Heavenly Lake with an elevation of 2,189 meters at the top of the Changbai Mountain, which borders North Korea in China’s Jilin Province. The water falls down from the Heavenly Lake and forms a waterfall, as if the water rushes down from heaven. Hence the local Manchu inhabitant called it "Songga-liwula" (means Heavenly Lake). It is considered that its Chinese name "Songhua" is from its Manchurian pronunciation - "Songga-liwula".

Opposite the river. Salji masih memutih.

Kena seberang jalan. Atas jalan tak ada salji, perhaps pekerja dah scoop pagi2 lagi
supaya senang kenderaan nak lalu.

On our way to Songhua River.

The river is 4 meters in depth and 1 kilometer in width on average in Harbin reach. Songhua River has more than 900 branches in large and small size. The river is frozen over from November to April the next year.

The Songhua River in winter is no less bustling than a summer bathing beach. It's frozen hard with ice nearly one meter thick, turning it into a huge playground for all kinds of ice sports. You can go swimming, skating and ice sailing, or ride in ice junks or horse-drawn sleighs.

Ladies and  gentlemen, presenting the Songhua River! When we mentioned river, mesti
ingat ada air mengalir2kan.. Ya, yang ini lain macam sikit. beku ya!

One can get here by the cable car too. 

The frozen Songhua River. Kat sini terkenal dengan aktiviti berenang dalam sungai beku
tp kami x tengok la pulak aktiviti tu. May be, ada masa2 tertentu kot.

Us. Semua muka berbungkus ya. Memang kena begini, kalau x, pedih dan rasa nak tercabut hidung. 

Cable car di celah-celah ranting pokok.

As the largest branch of the Heilong River, Songhua River winding through Harbin for 117 kilometers and served as an important artery for the development of the city. In the 17th century, under the reign of Emperor Kangxi, naval ships were stationed along these areas, and resisted the invading Russian enemy successfully. After that, in 1689, Sino-Russian Treaty of Nerchinsk was signed. That is the first border agreement between the Qing government and the imperial Russian government. On June 6th, 1898, a Russia warship taken on the engineers and surveyors to made a topographic map for building the China-East Railway. There landing point is where the Flood Control Monument located now. From then on, the river became busy and lots of material needed for build the railway were transported through this River and then, a modern city was erected at the south bank of Songhua River.

Antara kenderaan yang digunakan atas sungai beku ni 

Kami mula negotiate nak naik menda alah ni... Laju betul... Nak tercampak rasa.. Dah la serpih2 salji masuk mata. We paid 50 yuan for the ride. 

Getting ready to go!

Hubby tried this

Ustaz

Kereta kuda pon ada. more expensive.

This one is the most expensive...200 yuan per person...huhuhu...

Lepas Songhua River, kami ke train station kejap nak ambik tiket balik kami coz hari tu tak sempat nak redeem sbb dah nak kena tinggal train kan hari tu....huhuhuu... Kami pergi redeem di Harbin Main station tp balik nanti di Harbin Xi (west), Mengikut ctrip, kita boleh redeem di mana-mana saja train station sekitar China.

On our way to the train station, we spotted this giant castle in the middle of the road. Kita yang x biasa ni memang
rasa pelik,... jalan sikit, ada ice castle, jln depan lagi ada ice castle.. ehh depan tu ada ice lain pulak...

All the info is taken from:  (taken from: http://www.icefestivalharbin.com/article-p14-songhua-river.html)

To be cont...