Ice City

Another place we decided to check out during our Chinese New Year(Spring Festival) holiday, was Beijing's Longqing Gorge Ice Lantern Festival. Longqing Gorge is located almost 50 miles north of Beijing and is known for its stunning ice sculptures and buildings. On the bus ride up, it was so cool to see parts of the Great Wall meandering along the mountain ridges. Sometimes we can't believe we are actually living here! Once we arrived we loaded up on our winter gear: Four pairs of pants on, five layers of shirts, two winter coats, a scarf, two pairs of gloves, and two beanies. I was all set. (I decided not to wear the extra beanie. That would be a little too over the top). Sean on the other hand, only wore a t-shirt, jeans, a sweatshirt jacket, a scarf, and a hat (he didn't want to be too hot). Here are a bunch of fun pictures on our way to the "Ice City" and inside it.






Once we reached the end of the Ice City sculptures, we ran into the gorge's dam. The excess water had frozen and created this beautiful ice waterfall. We decided that we wanted to go up to the top of the dam.
The only way to do so was up inside this dragon. I was not looking forward to going up a lot of stairs with all of my layers on, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that the stairs were escalators!
The Chinese are serious when it comes to No Smoking. Take a look at what will happen to you if you do.

I bet this place is beautiful in the spring and summer. After the sun went down the lights came on. What a dazzling site this place was!