Renee, where to next?

What I ate, tips and recommendations

Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang, China’s most northern province. The city derives many influences from Russia. These can be seen explicitly in the architecture and local cuisine.

It was originally a Russian built settlement that facilitated a railway that traversed from a city in Russia. The city which is known as ‘The Ice City’ or ‘Oriental Moscow’ is one of China’s most popular winter destinations. Far from the simple fishing village once centered around the Songhua River.

I spent a total of three days in this winter wonderland, during the city’s busiest tourist seasons. I explored as many sites as I could and was able to dine at a few spots that all offered something different. In this blog we’ll explore what I ate and some tips and recommendations to make your trip to Harbin seamless.

First up is the food. Hello! You know I am a foodie first! Our first day was spent inside our hotel so we had hotel food. What a mistake that was. It was bland and really not worth a review. So we’ll waste no time and dig into what day two had to offer!

Day two was our first full day in Harbin. And hunger set in after we had finished at Sun Island Park. Originally, we selected a restaurant we saw online, but when we arrived it was only a bakery. The deception! LOL! There was a Russian restaurant next to it but that was so full we could not wait. All these places were located on Central Street, a pedestrian only street in Harbin. We had absolutely no luck finding an available restaurant and the brutal cold was not kind to us during this search.

Eventually we stumbled upon a BBQ restaurant (still in the Central Street area) that had available seats for all five of us. We randomly ordered three different noodles from the menu, which was not in English. Whew! Translations don’t always tell you everything, always keep that in mind.

The first to arrive was a noodle dish that was served cold. Let’s just say it was not well received by the person who ordered it! So it was sent back. Some times it’s just trial and error in these streets when ordering from a menu written in Chinese.

Next up was a sausage ramen dish and stir fried noodle dish. These were a hit! Flavor packed, cooked to perfection and the portion could be shared for two people. The ramen dish was such a redeemer from the previous night when we ordered ramen from room service at our hotel. We were thankful to finally have some ramen with flavor.

I ordered roasted eggplant with garlic. This was my starter and if you are a fan of roasted garlic slathered all over your food, this eggplant dish is in your lane and you will love it! Some people for sure don’t enjoy the texture of eggplant, but for me the texture and the flavor of the roasted garlic are a 10/10.

To round of the meal we also had some fried rice and some spicy shrimp. Now, let me tell you about this spicy shrimp and how it was more chillies than shrimp! Can you imagine that? We laughed at this but we enjoyed the shrimp that was actually included. The fried rice was your normal fried rice. It was good but not anything that was wow special. For protein we ordered skewers with, lamb, beef and pork, that we cooked ourselves on the grill at the table.

This spot was a life saver and a great experience doing our own BBQ! A new experience is always a yes for me and I was happy to be with friends while doing this.

Restaurant: Yang Zhike.

Address: 12 Xiang’an South Street, Songbei District

Time for a little sweet treat. Harbin is know for its locals having popsicles even in weather that drops to less than -23°C. So just like the locals we had to try the famous local popsicles. We stood in line and ordered the 10RMB (about USD$1.50) popsicles. The experience was great for the memories, but the taste in opinion was not worth it. The flavor was odd and really didn’t resonate with my palate. But, in my opinion this is a great experience to have when you visit Central Street in Harbin.

Russian inspired cuisine is popular in Harbin and lots of dishes are either full on Russian inspired or take some influence from Russia. After leaving the busy Central Street area, we journeyed to the Sunac Mall which was located about 5 minutes away from our hotel by taxi. We decided to dine in a restaurant that served Russian inspired cuisine. It was a simple restaurant with really basic Chinese/Russian dishes.

We ordered a few things but my favorite was the beer infused braised chicken wings. They were tender, juicy and fell right of the bone. It also came with some whole garlic cloves that were just as delicious as the wings. I’m a big fan of garlic, as you can see. We also had the braised pork ribs which was my second favorite thing. Pork generally can have a sweet taste. The flavor pairings of the seasonings of this braised pork rib dish really enhanced that sweetness. And I delighted in that pairing

We followed up with another pork dish. This one was a crispy fried pork. Less flavorful than the braised pork but added great texture when paired with the seafood fried rice that we also preferred. Finally, we round out the meal with some Chinese pancakes. The pancakes weren’t a hit but the rest of the meal was delectable.

From our trip to Volga Manor we also had a traditional Russian meal. We had soup and bread along with some chicken, potatoes and mushroom. It was quite the experience to be around traditional Russian architecture and dining on Russian cuisine.

I really wished I was able to experience more traditional food while in Harbin but from the few days I experienced there I think it’s worth a visit for us foodies and not only the adventure seekers.

Tips and recommendations

Harbin in the winter is a trip that requires planning and preparation. Not just for the sights to see or where to stay or eat. But you will need to prepare clothes and shoes that will keep you warm throughout your stay.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when going to Harbin:

• When you arrive at the airport there are changing rooms so you can layer up before going outside.
• The sunsets very early in Harbin, so it’s best to start your days earlier in the morning.
• Because sunset is at about 4:30 p.m. most people are out having dinner from about 3-3:30 p.m. Restaurants start getting full from 2:30 p.m.
• Central Street will be very busy in the afternoons so go earlier if you want to be around less of a crowd.
• Temperatures drop extremely low and can also affect your gadgets. My phone got so cold it shut down.
• Take a hand warmer with you! It takes only seconds for your finger to go numb.
• You make have some difficulty breathing in the extreme cold temperatures. So pace yourself and don’t try to do too much at once.

What to pack

Below is a list of clothing items you will definitely need when traveling to Harbin for a winter getaway.

• A base layer warmer. Wool blend or something that absorbs sweat or doesn’t make you sweat much
• A second layer of thick thermals
• A heavy jacket
• Fleece jacket or light down jacket
• Insulated shoes
• Insulated/thermal pants
• Base layer socks
• Wool thermal socks
• Warm head wear
• Insulated gloves
• Scarf or cowl

I hope this helps you prepare for your next winter getaway in the Ice City of Harbin. Let’s see where to next!