Answer Key to: Family in Ice and Snow

Mom for her favorite flower: lilacs (this flower is not a lilac, but close in color)

 

Ivan on his motorbike

myself (of course!)

Melanie (the ever watchful and all seeing, wise big sister)

Jill (for the horses!)

Shannon (a dancin')

Ryan (a bit tricky, because the snow rifle does not have a full barrel, but this is a snow hunter)

Dad (and his birds)

Polar Yin Yang

I spent some time in Polar Land on my recent visit to Harbin, and the majority of that time watching this particularly fascinating polar bear. He spent the entire time I was watching - about 30 minutes - swimming the same lap circuit, back and forth, 10 meters each way. His friend, also equally adorable, did not catch my attention as mush so since he chose to spend the same time sleeping. As I observed the bears, I had to wonder at how much their captivity influenced their behavior. 

Bear 1: Was it his anger at captivity or his joy for life that moved him to a constant swimming motion?

Bear 2: Was his slumber guided by his sadness at being in a cage or his acceptance to be calm in life?

And a question to readers: if, heaven forbid, you should one day find yourself in a cage, surrounded by people who holler and take pictures throughout the day, which bear would you be?

Harbin, Day 3

The morning of Day 3 began with another car ride as I returned to Harbin from the small 'hills' where I'd been snowboarding. Then, I visited "Sun Island" to see many impressive snow carvings. There was another international snow sculpture competition here, with teams from around the world (even Thailand!).

 This was also where I was to go on my 'dog sled' ride, which was supposed to be one of the major highlights. However, the sled ride was not at all what I imagined in would be. There were certainly dogs, but not much to say about a sled, and it was nothing like the grand Iditarod that I was hoping to recreate. I sat down and two German Sheperds pulled me around a frozen lake for a grand total of two minutes, with the 'driver' running alongside guiding the dogs for the full two minutes. I could have accomplished the same but for a longer period of time with a pack of dogs I know back home...So disappointing!

Next I went inside to warm up: into Polarland, an indoor aquarium / zoo that is famous for it's choreographed water dance with beluga whales. There was also a pretty entertaining show with some seals.

 After the shows, it was time to get back outside in the cold. You can gauge temperature from this ice tower thermometer here:


The thermometer and the next pictures are from Snow and Ice World, where I spent the last evening. I could only manage my gloves off to take photos for about five minutes, then wander around for about ten more minutes, before having to go inside one of the cafes to get hot tea or to eat some warm dumplings. After heating up, I could go take more pictures!