plane from Beijing to Harbin

In the hotel, my room as no less than 3 windows (double inside, single outside). Anything I put in between them froze in a few hours.

A thick ice layer on the outside window.

First dinner near HIT (Harbin Institute of Technology).

Morning at HIT, breaking the ice on the road.

The snow/ice never melts during the winter (average temperature -17 C) so is piled up wherever possible. It also accumulates dust generated by the heaters burning coal.

Pr. Yanhong Wei's group.

Black snow.

View from the office, late afternoon.

A model of HIT.

One of the many dining halls for students. Students can dine there for a few yuens. Most live in the university dorms (6 per room for master students and 4 for PhDs) where they cannot cook. Few students live outside the campus, although this is now a possibility.

On the streets of Harbin.

Hot water, the hose is more than 1 m long, this waiter's only task is re-filling tea cups.

Smoke from the heaters in the campus.

Chinese stone seal made by Yanli

result.

Central Harbin.

When it is too expensive to remove the snow from the streets, it is piled on the road for the car to compact.

St Sofia's church, russian style, early 20th century.

Shops near HIT.

Ice shop, only in winter !

Ice penguins.

The river, frozen !