The Snow and the Ice

It has continued to snow in Shanghai the past couple of days, maybe an inch in total, most of it turning slushy by mid morning. I don't believe the Shanghainese are prepared for snow in any way, shape or form. I saw a pack of men dressed in army fatigue yesterday sweeping snow off the sidewalk in front of a bank - with brooms made of twigs. Twig brooms are the broom of choice for the Chinese, just like they are for wicked witches, but when it comes to snow shoveling they are pretty horrendous. I also saw men with spaded dirt shovels trying to clear the snow, to no avail. The best tool anyone had was a flat board attached to a long shaft, which at least allowed them to shove the snow out of the way. I do believe there isn't a single snow shovel in Shanghai.

Having returned from Harbin near a week ago and not having related the best parts of it too you, I feel negligent in my blogging duties. Last Sunday featured the most amazing man-made winter specticle I have ever seen.

The morning consited of going to the river to watch 'winter swimming'. Grown men and women vollentarliy went swimming and diving into a hole cut in the otherwise frozen Harbin River, while we shivered watching them. With temperatures hovering just below 0 degrees F its a wonder none of them died upon contacting the water, especially concidering that one of the swimers was 70. The swimming hole was a cut into the ice and surrounded by boats, all frozen into the water, on which the audience could stand and be cold, but at least dry. The L Street Brownies have nothing on these chaps.

The Chinese appreciate razzle, dazzle and bright lights, where as I am more in tune with classical beauty, which may explain why I liked the Snow Sculputre Park so much. With pure white snow being carved into tremendously beautiful statues, it seemed an ode to classical Greek sculpture of marble gods. As a medium I'd never seen sculpted before, the resulting statues were as diverse as they were beautiful. One wall was a 300 square foot relief of Napoleon and his armies sweeping across Europe, while another display was an entire small Chinese village made of snow (complete with tractor). The largest statue was over a football field in length and over 10 stories tall, all made of snow! It had 2 churches on top, a classic French Gothic church and Mont Mare of Paris, along with statues of post-impressionist paintings. It was massive! and wasn't even the best statue in the park, not even close. That honor went to the recreation of the Forbiden City, complete with snow slides. There were smaller, more skillfully done statues, entered into the official competition for judging, which rank among the most astounding artwork my beady eyes have ever beheld. My two favorites are shown here; children sledding down a roof, which can only be seen from the other side, and a girl sitting at the back of optical illusion-like rings. The contrast between the brilliant blue sky that day (a far departure from Shanghai) and the stark white medium of the statues worked to compound my appreciation for the other. Daylight was the right time to see this.

That night, in sharp contrast to the sublime beauty of the ivory snow sculptures, I stood in the presence of neon ice palaces and Las Vegas worthy obolisks. The Ice and Snow Wonderland might have been prettier during the day, at least by my standards, but the Chinese love it at night when they an turn on thier thousands of neon lights embedded in the sculptures. Inside the grand Chinese gateway and past another Forbidden City (this time of ice), London was represented by ice versions of Westminster Abby and Tower Bridge (in honor of the 2012 Olympic Games). There were massive ice sculputres stretching out as far as I could see into the dark, frozen night. Two of these, however, shown above the rest - the tribute to Versailles (complete with skating ring for performances in front) and the Acropolys in Athens including the Parthanon on top. So high that it was visible across the river, the Acroppolis shone almost as impressive as the origional, not for the design or execution as much as sheer amazement that someone decided to make it. Bright enough to make Times Square look like a dark alley, it was day for night as the lights sparkled through their icey enclosures. Although I didn't envy obscene light displays, the atmosphere and the showmanship of the place more than made up for it - it is quite a show.

The next day we went home, our plane was delayed 6 hours due to snow in Shanghai, but 'the dude abides'. It was funny to think that despite standing in freezing temperatures for a weekend, I saw no new snow, while at the same time Shanghai saw its first snow in memory. Harbin lived up to its billing as a wintery wonderland, offering fantastic sights and good winter fun with the only price being the monotonous and unrelenting cold, which may have left the biggest impression of them all.