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Trans-Manchurian Ice Festival

Trans-Manchurian railroad is the railway line which coincides with the Trans-Siberian as far as Tarskaya, a few hundred miles east of Baikal. From Tarskaya the Trans-Manchurian heads southeast into China and makes its way down via Harbin to Beijing. In winter, Harbin hosts the Ice and Snow Festival - an unforgettable experience - which we invite you to take advantage of!

Harbin Ice Festival is an annual event held in Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province. Usually falling on January 5 and lasting a month, the festival exerts a strong draw on both local residents and visitors.

The city boasts its neat, impressive and artistic ice and snow sculptures, carvings, and buildings in parks and on frozen rivers. World famous monuments like some grand cathedrals, pyramids, Potala Palace and the Great Wall are all carved out of ice, in spectacularly giant sizes! Some of them, embedded with colored lights, are designed for nighttime observation. Ice sliding and skiing are popular activities in the occasion.

day 1 - Moscow. Arrival to Moscow. Our guide meets you at the airport and helps you get to your hotel. If you arrive late you may go for a calm unpacking evening, otherwise your Moscow buddy will be happy to show you the city!
day 2 - Moscow. After your breakfast at the hotel it is time to see the capital of Russia!
A. KREMLIN - We get to the Red Square to see the Lenins' Mausoleum and St. Basil's Cathedral, the weird and beautiful "dream of a mad confectioner". Your guide helps you to get tickets into the Kremlin and we go on with our tour on the territory and see the main cathedrals inside. You can opt for Diamond Fund or Armory Chamber and see the greatest collection of imperial jewelry and precious artefacts.
B. KOLOMENSKOE - a Great Princes' mansion in the XIV-XVII centures. It is the unique art, historical, architectural and nature-landscape museum-reserve, situated in the South region of Moscow. Nowadays it is a remarkable place to enjoy Russian folklore performance such as wedding-game, skomorokhs-buffoons and songs - and the park is absolutely beautiful in winter!
C. PUSHKIN or TRETYAKOV - the two most prominent galleries of the capital, housing an innumerable collection of masterpieces by both Russian and foreign artists. Balance of the day is yours - you may walk up and down Old Arbat Street to try out its cafes and buy some souvenirs for your friends and family.
day 3 - Moscow - Ekaterinburg. After the breakfast we check-out from the hotel and get ready for our journey eastwards. There is still time for some shopping or short sightseeing! In the evening departure for Ekaterinburg with train 002M at 21:25.
day 4 - In the train through the Ural mountains. We arrive to Ekaterinburg at about 1 am and get to the hotel to have some rest yet!
day 5 - Ekaterinburg. This place has the sad fame of being the city where the Romanov's emperor family was assassinated in the times of the Russian revolution.
A. ROMANOV GRAVES (Europe-Asia Monument en-route) - excursion by car to the place where Bolsheviks hid the bodies of the last emperor and his family. Duration ~6 hours.
B. SIBERIAN VILLAGE - visit to an old village now under a preservation order. Home-cooked lunch and exhibitions of craftlore included. You may also try horse riding. Duration ~ 8-9 hours. Overnight.
day 6 - Ekaterinburg - Irkutsk. Check-out from the hotel at noon. Our train departs in the evening, so there is enough time for some sightseeing in the city! Departure for Irkutsk at midnight.
day 7 - in the train through the Urals. We arrive to Irkutsk at noon on day 8.
day 8 - arrival to Irlutsk after noon and transfer (1 hour) to Listvyanka where you stay in a Russian-style hotel featuring authentic log-houses. After lunch you explore the village, see the Old Church and the Baikal Lake Wildlife Museum with a friendly local guide. In the evening - Russian banya and home-cooked supper!
day 9 - Irkutsk / Listvyanka. Today you may choose an activity to experience on the winter Lake Baikal. Baikal is magnificent in winter. Its still waters are secured by thick layer of unbelievably transparent ice.
A. TREKKING ON BAIKAL through the Taiga Forest. The shores of Lake Baikal are wild, steep and woody. It makes it next to impossible to ride on bike along any of Lake Baikal shores from North to South in summer. In winter though... Mirror-like ice fields, sunshine and temperatures well bellow zero... Your guide will tell you about the ecological system, the unique species of the wildlife and craftlore of the Siberian Taiga.
B. SNOWMOBILE TRIP ON BAIKAL through the forest or upon the mirror of the frozen lake!
C. ICEWATER SCUBA DIVING IN BAIKAL with qualified CMAS instructors - a truly resuscitating thing! You can take, if you like, PADI Dry suite course or Ice diving course. We use only very reliable equipment of world's best manufactures. There are not many places like that in the world where you may learn to make holes for dives in ice which is 1,5 meters thick. Should you have free time from diving, you may try skating, dog sledding, snow mobile adventures etc. Overnight in Listvyanka.
day 10 - Irkutsk - Kharbin. Transfer to the city of Irkutsk and a short sightseeing trip around the city. Transfer to the railway station just in time for your train to Kharbin.
day 11-12 - in the train
day 13 - Kharbin. After a night-time border crossing, you've entered China, and the area known as Manchuriaonce a separate Chinese kingdom, and home to the Manchu (after whom the Manchu Dynasty, the last in Imperial China, was named). Arrival in Harbin, the regional capital. No transfer, as your hotel is in the large Town Square directly in front of the Rail Station.
day 14 - Kharbin. Free day to visit the Ice Festival. There's no specific program-we'll give you directions for getting to the Festival-ground. The Festival is open from 10am-10pm daily and you must stay after dusk when the Chinese Lanterns are lit. Although sculptors come from all over the world, this is very much a local festival, and you have a chance to let your hair down with the locals. If your stay includes the final day of the Festival you will get the opportunity to smash all the carvings with the locals in the traditional way!
day 15 - Kharbin - Beijing. Free time to explore the Old Town of Harbin, with an attractive pedestrianised main street that features an incredible number of shops, cafes, bars and restaurants. Be sure to be ready for your evening departure to Beijing by sleeper train. (NB: 2-berth cabins are not available on this section.)
day 16 - Beijing. Early morning arrival in Beijing.
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