Postcard from Harbin Summer 2013
After a superb trip to Harbin in winter, I returned in summer to attend the ICEMI conference, kindly hosted again by Prof Peng Yu, Prof Shaojun Wang and Mr Yeyong Pang from Harbin Institute of Technology.
This is the view from Dragon Tower.
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and an 11MB, 30-shot 360 degree panorama of Harbin.
The difference could not be greater. In February, the Songhua River where the guy below is swimming was frozen solid.
Sun Island is where they had the International Snow Sculpture Art Festival. We fed the fish.
As well as the deer.
View from behind a waterfall.
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Songhua River at Sun Island.
Siberian Tiger Park.
Here are some shop workers doing a dance before work. In the background you can see both Chinese and Russian signs, unique to Harbin.
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This photo shows a number of contrasts between old and new.
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People burning stuff for good luck during the Hungry Ghost Festival.
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We then took a long trip (about 6 hours by car each direction) to Jinpo Lake, and walked through the Underground Forest which is at the bottom of a volcano crater.
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Diaoshuilou Falls. According to the sign, it is “the world’s largest lava air-hole collapse-type waterfall” (whatever that means). Anyway, it was spectcular.
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I was also impressed by the beauty of the countryside. Here is a photo taken from the car. The crops in the foreground are rice and corn.
I had a wonderful trip due to the hospitality of my hosts. They will be visiting Sydney in October, and I hope that we can make their visit as enjoyable as mine.
