Songhua River 松花江 Cruises

The Songhua River in Haerbin city is one of the more popular destinations of the locals. The banks of the Songhua River has been developed to be an enticing promenade where you can walk along the calm waters of the river. I can assume that there are also performances on the river itself since there are seats along the shores of the river. Is it also interesting to note the role the river plays in the yearly Ice Lantern festival for which Haerbin is most famous for. Unfortunately for me, it was still a few months away from the ice festival. Fortunately for me, because I don’t have to suffer the bitter cold that January would bring.

Anyway, the Songhua River plays a major part in the Ice Lantern festival. What role, you say? probably the most important role of all. This river is the source of all the ice that is used for the festival. When the river freezes over, the ice is then harvested to be used as building blocks for the ice festival. I saw photos of locals carving out ice from the frozen river. It must be an interesting scene to be part of all that. Since, there was no sign of ice. There was only the river cruises than can be had on this river. There are a number of cruise ships here along the promenade including a large one which can handle a hundred of more people.

There were a few smaller ones which I assume would be more expensive to operate. The locals love going on the cruise as it is a nice way to spend the afternoon. The time of the day wasn’t that optimal for photography though since the sun was quickly setting and it was only four in the afternoon. Haze was already starting to blur the horizon and the sky was quickly turning orange. To enjoy the moment, I also took some time to sit down on the shores of the Songhua and just take some time off.

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