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Q: How is the ice city in Harbin built so quickly each year?
Firstly, apologies for not posting something controversial but i have wondered about this.
Think about it....each year an ice city is built in Harbin. Summer comes and according to my physics teacher, it melts. I'm good with that.
So between the above zero summer, when do they start building and where do they get all the ice from. It certainly goes up quickly....of course the workers have practice each year but it seems like a marvel of planning, organisation and construction each year. Does anyone know about the logistics of this?
6 years 17 weeks ago in Transport & Travel - China
I assume they make ice bricks from the river water which is right there and have hundreds of migrant workers going around the clock. A lot of the building would basically just be bricklaying or maybe even just pouring water into molds to freeze so it wouldn't need the real arty people for that.
Not sure when it starts getting cold enough to freeze water there - late Oct early Nov maybe? I was there once in late December though and while the festival wasn't properly open you could still go and see some of the buildings.
Hats off to them though, it's an impressive feat building that every year in the short amount of time they'd have.
iWolf:
I thought about iceblocks from the river but wouldn't the water be a bit dirty looking? Rivers in any country seldom have water that would be clean enoigh to show off with lights. Where's Phil when you need him?
Stiggs:
I hadn't thought of that... maybe once the water is out of the river it doesn't look so nasty.
I grew up swimming in a lake that was almost black to look at but the water was super clean, you could drink it and if you were to fill a glass it would be clear.
The other option maybe would be truckloads of snow from the countryside.
You can keep ice bricks in a freezer until it's time to assemble them
Magic sticks .... 
from Huachuan are famous .... 
Water&(way) below 0*C temperature and in a week you have iced anything watery.
Then, you need ice carving tools and everybody (1 brazillion ...) goes onto the ice, you have a city from ice in short time.
- 33*C (- 27*F) daily temperature equals to 'spit converts into ice before hits the pavement.'
I was there during the winter of 2009, don't ask!
If you spit on the restaurant's floor, it's different ...
iWolf:
Maybe i just don't understand how cold it can be, growing up on the beach and living in the pearl river delta.
icnif77:
How cold is -33*C?
You head to a nearby Super (150 m walk) for groceries and after you return home, you don't have enough strength in your hands to unlock entrance door ... exercise for 10' minutes outside of your apartment follows.
Once, your hands are warm again and power returns, you can turn key in locker and enter the house.
There is approx. 1 cab (car & rickshaw) per 2-3 residents there. In winter, everybody uses taxi.
Once, snow has fallen (10 cm), it freezes immediately. They don't plow snow on the side of the road like we do. They take snow away and dump it outside of the cleaning area (I don't know where ...).
It is amazing to watch how cleaning of roads is organised:
They use single construction digger, which first breaks the ice and scoops it with the shovel .... some 20 empty loading trucks wait outside of cleaning area while only one truck is with the digger. Once, truck is full of snow and ice, it takes off and another empty truck approaches the digger.
Cleaning of the ice and snow off the roads in Heilongjiang is swift.
Man, you should see that level of 'organisation' unknown in other parts of China I was.
'add-it': Since you're from the beach, lem'me fill you in on cold ...
Did you know, Liaoning Police is dressed in black leather uniforms during the winter months?
Traffic on major roads in cities is regulated by hand .... of mostly female cops .... couple of girls, all above 170 cm, skinny .... cops moves in the middle of crossing aren't sloppy, but well trained, military 'ballet and things' ... moves.. LOL ...
You don't really know what sexy is till you don't see that ....
iWolf:
I just can't imagine that. Sure the leather police babes may be nice but damn it's cold. Why does Uncle Phil love it there so much?
icnif77:
Once, 
you are married to Chinese 
, you listen .... more than talk ....
Phillip might got reprimanded for that thread he posted ... 'Sex on 30-days L ....' I 'heard' MIL had saying, too. ...LOL
Ikuko Kawai Violin Concerto de Aranjuez on me UE plugs ... She's Japanese, but I am in 'love' through my ears .... since yesterday.
