Zhaolin Park in Harbin
Zhaolin Park Facts
Zhaolin Park is located in Daoli District of Harbin City, only a few hundred meters away from the Central Street. It is an early city park in Harbin and has been the venue of the annual Ice Lantern Garden. In order to commemorate the anti-Japanese hero Li Zhaolin, the people buried their remains here and held a grand public sacrifice and burial ceremony in the park.
Chinese Name: 兆麟公园
Type: Parks; Ice Lantern Fair
Address: No.377 Senlin Street, Daoli District, Harbin
Best Seasons: All year round; Spring and autumn best.
Recommended Visiting Hours: about 2-4 hours
Opening Hours: Day field 10:00-14:00, night field 14:00-21:30
Ticket: During the Ice Lantern Garden Party (from the end of December to early March):CNY 150 per adult; free for children under 1.2m (3.9 feet).
Usual time: free
Why is Zhaolin Park in Harbin So Special?
The Harbin Zhaolin Park is popular all around the world for its famous ice carvings. The park is located in Harbin in the district of Daoli. Each year Harbin Zhaolin Park attracts thousands of visitors and participants for the annual Ice and Snow Festival.
Brief Introduction of Zhaolin Park
Zhaolin Park is located in the downtown area of Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China. It is only 200 meters away from the famous Zhongyang Pedestrian Street in town. The park has found since 1906, being the oldest city park in Harbin. Zhaolin Park is famous for annual Ice Lantern Fair during Harbin Ice & Snow Festival. From January 5th to late February, the Ice Lantern Fair Festival will be held in the park. During the fair festival, many ice lanterns and ice sculptures will be showed in park. And the ice lanterns and ice sculptures are all decorated with neon lights. When darkness falls and all the lights are on, the ice lanterns and ice sculptures becomes very attractive, just like magic fairy land.
The Ice Lantern Venue of the Annual Harbin Ice Festival
This is the smallest display site of the International Ice and Snow Festival. More than a thousand ice lanterns are on display. These are works of art with a light glowing inside. Only a few are large in scale. Most are the contribution of locals, but some are serious contenders for awards and recognition.
Ice sculptors from about twenty countries carve and display their works on the site. Only a few reach two stories. Most people appreciate the work of the thousands of competitors, but many feel the twenty acre park doesn’t hold a candle to the massive ice and snow monuments across the river. They are designed to be seen when it is dark, so they are bland to see during the day.
Highlights in Zhaolin Park
After its improvements done in 1985, the Harbin Zhaolin Park is a beautiful park with nice scenery. The Huaguo Mountain is located on the east while the Meigui Mountain is located on its west. Towards the south is the Xiaonan Islet while in the north lies the glass flower cellar. In the center of the park is an artificial lake with five bridges that link the area cleverly. The Harbin Zhaolin Park is home to a fish and flower exhibition hall, skate land, children’s playground, an open air theater, arbors, Dingxiang Garden and Yingyue Garden.
Best Time to Visit Harbin
The best time to visit Harbin is from December to February of the next year, when the weather is freezing cold, and Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival takes place during this period. It is the best time to enjoy the area’s ice and snow and relative activities, including skiing.
Climate Data Table for Harbin
|
Month Item
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
|
maximum
temperature (℃) |
-13.4
|
-8.1
|
1.13
|
12.6
|
21.6
|
26.1
|
28.3
|
26.7
|
20.2
|
12.7
|
-0.7
|
-10.1
|
|
minimum
temperature (℃) |
-26.0
|
-21.3
|
-11.6
|
-0.62
|
7.1
|
14.1
|
18.2
|
16.5
|
8.6
|
-0.2
|
-11.5
|
-20.7
|
|
Rainfall (mm)
|
8.2
|
5.6
|
10.2
|
18.0
|
40.2
|
84.6
|
143.8
|
121.1
|
58.6
|
31.3
|
10.8
|
6
|
How to Get to Zhaolin Park From Harbin City
Travel with China Dragon Tours (top recommended)
If you want to get rid of hustle of transportation and troublesome navigation, you can book a private tour package which covers visiting, dining and transfer from us. Our local tour guide and driver will escort you to Zhaolin Park in Harbin with speed and convenience, and take care of all the details. You just need to focus on travel.
Independent Travel
You may take Public Bus 16, 23, 64, 83, 94, etc. to get off at San Dao Jie Station. Taking a taxi would be the most convenient way. You may show its Chinese兆麟公园 to the the driver, and he will take you there.
Useful Travel Tips
- In Harbin in winter the temperature is from -25°C (-13°F) to -10°C (14°F), and that’s without wind chill! Hence thermal underwear, gloves, (scarves, earmuffs), hats, (face masks), and thick arctic clothing and boots are necessary. If you have ski boots they would be ideal.
- Try to avoid visiting during Golden Week and summer holidays.
- Two Other Bigger Venues of the Harbin Ice Festival
The little ice lanterns don’t stand alone. There are massive ice sculptures across the river in the Ice and Snow World venue. There, the glowing towers of ice are animated with computer controlled high tech lightning. They may almost reach 50 meters tall. These are what most visitors want to see. They are big enough to walk inside and on and are unusually intricate and realistic.
Also across the river is Sun Island with a landscape of massive snow sculptures that are best seen during the day. Those too are record setting and draw large crowds during the festival.
