Warm clothing, hot pot and even ice cream bars feature at China’s ice capital

HARBIN, China (AP) — Faced with temperatures dipping to -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit), visitors to China’s wintertime resort city of Harbin often make a beeline for stalls selling padded clothing to augment their wardrobes.

Oddly perhaps for some, frozen ice cream bars are also considered a key part of the visit.

Each winter, the industrial city in China’s northeast turns into a magnet for those from China’s balmier regions wanting to experience the extreme cold and take in the sculptures built from ice blocks carved from the Songhua River, which freezes from late October to late March.

“I searched for tips on the internet and am now wearing knitted wool pants and the thickest sweater possible,” said Jin Yiting, who was visiting with her parents from the financial hub of Shanghai, where a light jacket is usually sufficient winter garb.

Jin Yanlong runs a stall selling winter hats, gloves and boots in the park. He said that most of his customers are tourists from southern China who underestimate the frigid weather in Harbin.

“Some of the tourists wear ‘too thin.’ They come here immediately from the airport. They would find us to buy warm trousers padded with cotton,” Jin said.

Despite the freezing weather, some curious tourists are brave enough to taste the cold itself. Zhuang Chang and his friend enjoyed their Madie’er ice cream bars while strolling on a commercial street whose architecture reflects the Russian influence on the city. The brand was established in 1900s by a Russian company and has steadily grown in popularity among tourists.

“It’s cold, but my heart is warm,” Zhuang said. He also compared the humid cold months of his hometown in Zhejiang province, where “people would be frozen to the core when being hit by