Harbin Ice Lantern Festival

The Harbin Ice Lantern Festival is held every January among the trees and ponds of Zhaolin Park.  The park is located in the centre of town and is the original location of Harbin's spectacular Snow & Ice Festival.  However, the main festival has long since relocated to a larger, grander venue.

Ice lanterns have a long history in the city. Local ice fishermen originally used them to light their favourite fishing spot.  A cavity was carved into a block of ice cut from the local river.  This was then used to cover and protect a candle.  The translucent ice also helped to scatter its light in all directions.

Today, the city continues the tradition of the ice lanterns with a spectacular multi-coloured display of ice and light.  Garry and I visited the venue on our last night in Harbin. It was the perfect way to end our brief excursion into northern China.  The park was relatively crowd-free in stark constant to the Snow & Ice Festival's main venue.  

We spent more than an hour wandering through the park admiring dozens of creative ice sculptures, iridescently lit buildings of ice and winding paths lined with row upon row of simple, colourful man-sized ice lanterns. It was also here that we paused for a moment to remember the fifth anniversary of my Dad's passing (oh yes - that's me sitting on the boat of solid ice).

Harbin Snow & Ice Festival

For more than a decade I’ve dreamed of visiting the Harbin Snow & Ice Festival in northern China.  This frontier city of more than 5 million people has been hosting this extraordinary event every Winter since 1985. Over the year its grown to become the world’s largest event of its kind.  Until now I’ve never found myself in the right place at the right time to make it north and see this jaw-dropping spectacle for myself.

Garry and I were in China last week for business.  By chance we discovered that our visit coincided with the opening weekend of this year’s festival.  Having travelled for business on New Year’s Day and then again the following weekend we thought it reasonable to take a little time off along the way. We eventually spent two days in Harbin while en route to Hong Kong. 

I’d booked us a private guide and driver to show us around the city.  This ensured we were able to make the most of our time rather than battle our way through the inevitable language barrier. However, getting there was half the fun.  We flew from Ningbo to Harbin arriving shortly after dark.  As we exited the plane we greeted by rather chilling -14C temperatures.  These never rose above -6C the entire time we were there.  If you look at a map you’ll see that Harbin is located at the same latitude as northern Mongolia; and is actually more than 100 kilometres north of Vladivostok.

We’re glad we made the effort. During Winter three separate venues spread across the city become temporary theme parks filled with enormous structures built from compressed snow or blocks of translucent river ice.  Literally, thousands of workers spend several months creating ice versions of globally recognised structures.  In the past this has included the pyramids, the Sphinx and the Taj Mahal. Multicoloured LED lights are also used light the ice at night creating a truly awe-inspiring technicolour spectacle.

The awe and wonder begin from the moment you enter the city. As you exit the airport expressway you’re greeted by an enormous Chinese style ice building. By night it’s a spectacular multi-coloured structure.  By day it's an imposing ice blue monument that towers over the roadway.

Its ice blocks are cut from the frozen surface of the Songhua River every winter.  This river flows through the heart of the city. In places the river is almost a kilometre wide so there’s plenty of ice to go around. Ice sculptors then use chisels, ice picks and saws to carve and construct these incredible ice buildings and sculptures. Deionised water is also be used for some ice resulting in blocks as transparent as glass.

Every year, the festive has a central theme that’s then depicted in ice and snow across the city. In 2007, the festival featured a Canadian themed sculpture, in memoriam of Canadian doctor Norman Bethune. It was awarded a Guinness Record for the world's largest snow sculpture: 250 metres long, 28 feet (8.5 m) high, using over 13,000 cubic metres of snow.

This year’s festive was themed around the Silk Road. Throughout the city dozens of frozen structures depicted buildings and monuments found along this transcontinental route. Highlights this year included the Buddhist stupas of Burma, St Basil Cathedral in Red Square, the Temple of Heaven in Beijing and the Christian cathedrals of Rome.

The largest venue literally covered acres of an enormous island located in the middle of the Songhua River.  Garry and I simply couldn't believe how huge the complex was.  We thought we'd spent an hour or so there. We ended up spending more than three hours and even then I'm sure we missed a few buildings and sculptures along the way.  In the image above the actual venue can be seen as a bright white glow in the middle of the Songhau river.

We were also lucky enough to see the festival's grand opening fireworks display.  We both agreed we saw many fireworks we've never seen before.  In fact, at one point, the spectacle unfolding in the night sky easily outshone the New Year's Eve display we witnessed the previous weekend in Sydney. All I can say is that the images I've posted here simply don't do justice to our weekend excursion.

Among the peaceful clouds

Garry and I have just returned from a business trip to Mainland China.  We flew out on 1 January so our first night of the new year was spent in Beijing.  We were in China to inspect and review the factories that make the toys we distribute; before heading to Hong Kong for its annual Toy Fair.

Our first factory visit was to the town of Yunhe.  It located in Zhejiang Province about 150kms inland from the coastal city of Wenzhou.  The town promotes itself as the wooden toy capital of China.  Visitors are left in no doubt as to its claim to fame.  As you enter the town you pass through an enormous gateway crowned by a row of giant wooden toys.

The neighbouring Yunhe County is also famous for its hills layered in rice terraces.  They're called the most beautiful terraces in all of China.  Many of them have been farmed since the early Tang Dynasty which means the oldest ones are almost 1000 years old.  They're also among the highest terraces in China.  The lower layers start around 200 metres above sea level then climb to an extraordinary to 1200 metres.  Yunhe actually translates as peaceful clouds.  The name pays tribute to these incredible structures which are often shrouded by early morning mist and low cloud.

Our factory hosts took Garry and I see the terraces before our first meetings of the day.  The drive itself was an incredible experience.  We had no idea we'd end up winding higher and higher along narrow country roads. We certainly got to see rural China up close. It was extraordinary to see entire hillsides covered in cascading terrace layers literally descending from the clouds.

It also a rather confusing and often nerve-wracking drive. I don't think we'd have ever had made it not been for our hosts.  Apparently, during the peak tourist season, you can catch a dedicated bus into the mountains from Yunhe.  However, it's fair to say that driving this route felt a heck of lot safer in a car than tackling it in a local bus.  As we climbed the road progressively narrowed to a single lane, only widening again briefly on blind, hair-raising hairpin turns.

Entrepreneurial locals have established a view platform along the edge of one of the area's more scenic spots.  A modest $15 entry fee (80RMB) gave us access to a series of well-maintained facilities.  A well-paved walking track traced a hill ridge for several hundred metres before finishing at a series of stepping stone pavers that led you down to the terraces themselves.  Along the way we watched ducks foraging in the mud and saw the stream that feeds water into the area.  It was fun to trace the water's journey from this entry point along numerous channels and pipes that direct its flow down the hillside into individual terraces.

Unfortunately, our visit coincided with the least scenic time of year.  At this time of year everything is looking rather drab, brown and muddy. However, the spectacle itself was still rather breath-taking.  It also meant that we had the entire viewing area to ourselves.  Apparently, in Summer the area is often overwhelmed by traffic and people; effectively ruining its refreshing rural vibe and serenity.

A land that time forgot

There’s a lot about modern politics that disappoints me. I vividly recall the euphoria and optimism that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism in Eastern Europe. Sadly, in the decades since, the progressive values and economic benefits of liberal democracy have slowly eroded. Those early years of hope and rising aspirations are long gone.

Instead, hope for a better life has been replaced by "self-sabotaging events" (to quote one recent commentator), such as Brexit and the rise of populist leaders like Donald Trump in the USA and
Viktor Orbán in Hungary. In China, Xi Jinping has turned his back on the liberalising reforms of Deng Xiaoping. In Russia, Vladimir Putin is restoring the oppressive Soviet levers of state control dismantled by Mikhail Gorbachev.

These trends certainly don’t operate in a vacuum. Liberal democrats haven’t done enough to support those impacted by global trade liberalisation. Equally, they’ve failed to explain how liberalisation has improved the lot of millions, including those voting for leaders like Trump. It's frustrating to see the very people protesting globalisation enjoying a higher standard of living made possible by all those cheap goods and foodstuffs they buy at Walmart and Primark. Likewise, the material economic benefits of the European Union were cynically ignored or downplayed by leave campaigners.

Protesters we encountered in New York in January

The truth is that globalisation hasn’t let them down. Rather, failures in policy have. There’s absolutely no reason why the world’s wealthiest nation cannot afford universal healthcare and deliver it without the burden of a profit motive. Equally, the USA, of all nations, can afford to pay its people a living minimum wage. It's no wonder populists are having a field day. History will inevitably demonstrate that many of these men (and most of them are men) ultimately leveraged the disenfranchisement of working-class citizens for little more than personal gain, self-aggrandisement and political power.

Why this rant? Sadly, Australia hasn’t been immune to this depressing trend. For the last three months, we’ve been enduring a fractious debate about legalising same-sex marriage. For more than a decade, public opinion polls report a clear and growing majority of voting-age Australians support same sex marriage. However, despite this clear and unequivocal message, the current Government lacked the courage to legislate this change without a divisive national plebiscite.

Instead, in an attempt to appease (or more likely, neutralise) the far right of the current Coalition Government, we’ve endured months of debate about a matter most Australians have no issue with. Since 12 September, the Australian Electoral Commission has been conducting a national postal survey, although most people call it a postal vote. Voting ended on 7 November.

The survey results were announced on 15 November. 61.6% of those responding expressed support for legislating same-sex marriage. 38.4% voted no. In every state and territory, a majority of votes also supported the change. Within hours of the results being announced, the Marriage Amendment Bill was tabled in Parliament. This bill was passed into law a few weeks later with an overwhelming majority. As of 7 December, same sex couples are finally free to marry. 

This article in the Sydney Morning Herald pretty much sums up the last few months and years. What was all the fuss about?

The best and worst of Bali

Garry has added another country to his list.  We’ve just returned from a week in Bali, Indonesia.  Sadly I’ve previously visited Indonesia for business so no new stamp for me. However, it was the first visit to Bali for both of us, so we were curious to see if it lived up to its sordid lager lout reputation.

The vacation was a last-minute decision.  Much to our surprise (and delight) we were offered a week’s free accommodation in a luxurious private villa by an industry colleague.  Fiona’s original travel companion had cancelled at the 11th hour and she was keen to share the experience with others.  In the end, we simply paid for our flights and within weeks found ourselves flying out of Sydney one Friday evening.

The villa itself was a gem.  Four individual rooms (complete with ensuites) encircled a kidney-shaped pool and private gardens.  The center of the villa features an open-air kitchen and living area that opens out onto the pool deck.  Two in-house maids kept things running smoothly behind the scenes, while a local masseuse and driver pampered and guided us each day.

Garry thoroughly enjoyed lounging by the pool all week while I took time out to explore a couple of local tourist venues.  In between our indolent moments, we continued to run our business remotely.  This all worked superbly until a systems upgrade by the local telecoms company left us without reliable internet access for two days.

The villa’s location in Sanur ultimately proved to be both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing because it was located on Bali’s eastern coast well away from the crass and infamous backpacking paradise of Kuta.  A new, modern supermarket was also available just a couple of doors away.  The local beach was rarely crowded.

However, we soon discovered that Sanur was also a long way away from many of the island’s best shopping, bars and restaurants.  This meant that dining out often involved a mind-numbing commute in slow-moving traffic for up to an hour in each direction.  Yes – you can dine like a king for half the price of a premier Australian venue – but only if you’re willing to run a daily gauntlet of noise, clutter and chaos to get there. For me, this stressful book-ending experience spoiled the entire evening.  

We were also reminded that Indonesia is a developing nation when I picked up a nasty bug and enjoyed 24 hours of diarrhoea. Despite these setbacks, we enjoyed a superb Sunday brunch at the W Hotel in Seminyak. We returned to Seminyak later in the week for a memorable dinner at nearby Meera Putih.  This restaurant’s interior in and of itself was worth the trip. Soaring white light-clad pillars capture your eye the moment you enter the dining hall; each surrounded by full-size (artificial but incredibly life-like) palm trees.

We also discovered Mandailing Estate Coffee quite by chance while shopping in a local mall.  This is certified Wild Kopi Luwak; the world’s rarest coffee.  I recall seeing news stories when we were living in London about cups of this coffee being offered for £50.00 each.  We bought ourselves a 180gm bag, enough to make 4 cups of coffee for five days, for less than $20.00. 

This coffee is famous for its origin.  It comes from the remote highland regions of Sumatra.  Here wild Palm Civet cats (they look like a very furry mongoose) feast each night on ripe Arabica coffee cherries growing in the local coffee plantations.  The coffee beans ferment as they make their way through the animal’s intestinal tract. This process neutralizes the coffee’s natural acidity. 

The coffee bean skats are then collected by the locals. Once roasted, the final result is a smoother drinking experience.  Personally, without an acidic edge, I thought the brew tasted more like instant coffee.  However, experimenting with double shot variations resulted in a satisfyingly strong but less bitter cup.

Our culinary adventure was somewhat soured a few days later when we discovered that less scrupulous farmers cage the wild Civets and force-feed them cherries to create an industrialized version of this famous coffee.  We found two such creatures in barren wire cages while visiting a local tea sampling venue.  While our coffee was the real deal it seems that many others are not.

When we did venture out the local sights were a little and miss. Fiona and I spent an afternoon exploring the verdant rice-terraced valleys in Tegalalang and a thundering waterfall in Tegenungan.  The terraces were superb.  They were the real deal albeit enhanced with paths and stairways for easier tourist access.  I spent more than an hour wandering the hillside soaking in the vista.  It was wonderfully refreshing to see something green after days of urban clutter and concrete.

Fiona and I also visited the Uluwatu Temple.  This Buddhist temple sits precariously on the edge of a plunging rocky cliff face.  Sadly, the idyllic location didn’t live up to its Tripadvisor rating.  We found a dusty, dirty and decaying temple complex overwhelmed by busloads of selfie stick-wielding Chinese tourists.  They blocked every path, crowded the stairways and constantly waved their sticks around like deadly Jedi light sabres.  The temple’s most iconic buildings were also out of bounds to all but the most fervent local worshipper.

Garry and I concluded it was worth taking time out to experience Bali.  We also agreed that if we were to return we’d base ourselves on the opposite side of the island and hide away within the walls of an appropriate five-star resort.

One final highlight: One afternoon, we drove past a store selling inflatable pool toys. The following day, we passed the store again and decided to stop and decorate our villa pool. This kicked off a ritual of random purchases whenever we encountered inflatable toys for sale. The giant turtle ultimately made it home with us, but not much else. Probably not the most eco-friendly habit.

Bondi to Bronte Coastal Walk

The Bondi to Bronte Coastal Walk extends for approximately 4km along Sydney's eastern coast.  The walk officially extends from Ben Buckler Point on the northern tip of Bondi Beach to the southern boundary of Waverley Cemetery.  The route weaves its way around rocky sandstone cliffs and along the rim of several sheltered beach coves.  It takes about 90 minutes to walk the entire route.

The walk began as a state government relief program in the 1930s.  The original track was hewn partly from the local sandstone by labourers grateful for any form of employment during the Great Depression. Today’s more advanced track consists largely of broad and smoothly paved tracks and stairways that make it a popular outdoor excursion for people of all ages. 

The route also hosts the annual Sculpture by the Sea event from late October to early November.  For three weeks every year, more than half a million visitors trek past an exhibition of large, intriguing artistic outdoor sculptures.  In past years its art has included a giant half-buried frypan and a collection of enormous shiny metal spheres.  However, this isn’t the only art that can be seen.  Aboriginal rock carvings estimated to be at least 2000 years old can also be found in several locations. 

When Mum was in town in April I discovered that, despite numerous visits to Sydney, she’d never experienced the Bondi to Bronte walk.  On the last day of her vacation, we took a few hours off to walk from Bronte to Bondi, stopping for a light lunch by the outdoor pool at Bondi Lifesaving Club.  The weather played its part allowing us to enjoy partially sunny conditions even as dramatic storm clouds passed over the coast to the north.

Cousins reunite

I’m currently in Melbourne for the annual Gift Fair we exhibit at every year. This year we’ve rented a massive four-bedroom, three bathroom house overlooking the Maribyrnong River. We’ve been waking up to beautiful views of the neighbouring golf course and river.

Last night I took time out to catch up with my cousin, Kevin Parker, and his lovely wife, Ali, in Brunswick. Kevin and Ali have been living with their daughters in Melbourne for years. However, it’s taken until now for us to finally meet up. This was also my first time meeting Ali. Sadly, our Australian-based reunion will be short lived. They’re relocating back to New Zealand next month. 

We enjoyed a wonderful evening. Lots of laughs and some superb food. It’s a shame it’s taken so long to reconnect. 

Bogans be gone!

My little bro has opened my eyes to a whole new part of Australia.  For as long as I can remember the Gold Coast was known as Australia’s Bogan Capital.  It was always the holiday destination of choice for larger louts long before discount airlines made Bali an affordable alternative.  News headlines constantly proclaimed it one of the nation’s crime hot spots and graduating high school students flocked in their thousands for an annual “Schoolies” week of drunken revelry.

As a result, I’ve never had a burning ambition to visit the Gold Coast.  Until recently my experience of the region had been limited to its popular Theme Parks and a brief afternoon excursion to see the iconic beach at Surfers Paradise.  It was therefore with some trepidation that I signed up for a weekend away with my brothers on Gold Coast.

However, my fears proved to be unfounded.  Little bro Matt gave my brother Hamish and I an entertaining eye opening tour of the Gold Coast.  Over three days we dined in style, shopped for designer labels and enjoyed an afternoon winding through the quirky back roads of Mount Tamborine.  

Matt showed us shade-dappled streets lined with swanky cafes and country lanes teeming with boutique wineries and micro-breweries.  In fact the only remotely Bogan experience we enjoyed was a crazy evening of laughs at Dracula’s adult cabaret; and a less than impressive Thai meal on our final night out.

The genesis of our weekend away was my brother Hamish’s forthcoming 50^th birthday.  Matt suggested we schedule some time out together to celebrate while noting that I’d missed a family gathering in Rarotonga for my own 50^th birthday two years earlier.  The Cook Islands excursion occurred three months after Garry and I had acquired our company.  At the time our initial learning curve was simply overwhelming as we worked towards the company’s busiest trading period of the year.

Our weekend together in late July was a wonderful time away.  We rented a rooftop apartment that came decked out with its own spa pool, BBQ zone and stunning coastal vista.  We made the most of our venue with a Moet fuelled birthday breakfast on the sun-drenched balcony and evening meals of Kangaroo burgers on brioche buns.  I’ll definitely be back to enjoy more of the best that the Gold Coast has to offer.