Harbin's Ice-Lantern Festival (Part 2 of 2)

A chilly walk across the frozen Songhua river brought me to Sun Island. From there I got a bus to the Siberian Tiger breeding centre, where the rare Siberian tigers a being breed for reintroduction into the wild. Although in typical Chinese nationalist style, the park insists on calling the animals "North-East-China Tigers" . There were about 70 tigers kept in several large pens (each pen was easily a couple of acres). A small bus takes visitors through the enclosures, stopping to take photos. The tigers are completely unafraid of the buses and obligingly come close to the bus to pose for photographs. I was told that sometimes, visitors can buy chickens from the gift shop, to throw at the tigers. Apparently the tigers will carefully 'pluck' the chicken before tearing it apart. I'm sure all of this is great entertainment, but I'm not sure how it is preparing the tiger for life in the wild...

Sun island is a huge park & recreational area across the river from Harbin, and it must be very popular in the summer. But in winter there is only one thing to see. You guessed it, more ice and snow sculptures!

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