Harbin, Day One

I spent a few days on a real wintry getaway and headed up to the far northern city of Harbin which, if my map is accurate, is somewhere between Winterfell and The Wall. The first day featured a visit to a tiger park to see cute, furry faces like this guy: 

 This park is unique in that it is, essentially, a Jurassic Park for tigers. Tourists load up on buses that have bars installed over the windows and drive around open 'safari' land where the cats roam. So I got to see somewhat nervous people, like this guy, as a big cat walks right past his window:

In the evening, I went to Zhaolin Park where blocks of ice, delicately assembled, come to life at night:

I particularly enjoyed the ice sculpture competition pieces, like these:

 

The weather was sunny all throughout the day, but even then, lots of warm layers are required, and all the more so at night!