7 Days Amazing Northeast China Winter Tour with Changbai Mountain & Wusong Island

Full Itinerary Day by day

Day 1 Harbin Arrival

Ni Hao! Welcome to Harbin, the Capital of Heilongjiang Province, which is well known as the "Ice City" in China. Your local guide will meet you at the arrival hall of airport / railway station. Then you will be escorted to your hotel in a private vehicle. The rest of today is on your own to explore this city.

Arrival Ideas:

Harbin Taiping International Airport is 41 km’s driving distance from downtown area. It has flights from Beijing (2 hrs), Dalian (1.5 hrs), Qingdao (2 hrs), Jinan (2 hrs), Xian (3 hrs), Shanghai (3 hrs), Chengdu (3.5-4 hrs), Ordos (2.5 hrs), Hangzhou (3 hrs), Guangzhou (4-4.5 hrs), Xiamen (4-4.5hrs), Wuhan (3-3.5 hrs), Sanya (5 hrs) and more destinations in China, and more international cities like Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Moscow, Phuket Island, etc. While Harbin West Railway Station has high speed trains linking Harbin with Beijing (7~8 hrs), Changchun (1 hr), Shenyang (2.5~3 hrs), Dalian (4~5 hrs), Jilin (2-3 hrs), Tianjin (6.5 hrs), etc.

Evening Ideas (Explore on your Own):

In this evening, you can go to Zhaolin Park to appreciate the largest scale of outdoor ice lantern fair in the world. Complimented as “the non-repetitive fairy tales”, Zhaolin Park Ice Lantern Show is one of the three exhibitions that make up the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival. Spend 1-2 hours to enjoy all the colorful ice lanterns and ice sculptures. (Important Note: It is held every year from January 5^th to the end of February. It is suggested to visit after 18:00 when all the lights turning on.)

Day 2 Harbin (B, L)

Today, after breakfast, your guide and driver will meet you at your hotel. You’ll first visit Sophia Square to admire the holy appearance of the St. Sophia Cathedral from 1907. This must-visit site is a typical Byzantine architecture with a large green dome and was once the largest Orthodox Church in the Far East. The cathedral is the symbolic architecture in Harbin and at present is used as Harbin Architectural Art Gallery and displays some souvenirs. Then, you’ll visit the nearby exotic Zhongyang Pedestrian Street from 1900. Stroll along this 1,400 meters long historic street to appreciate the 71 precious buildings in different styles with long history, including Renaissance, Baroque, etc. (The Stalin Park is very close to the pedestrian, so if you are interested and time permits, you could walk there to admire the Russian architectures and enjoy many creative artistic sculptures.)

After that, continue your fabulous enjoyment to the Sun Island Scenic Resort, which is a major venue to hold the International Snow Sculpture Art Expo on Harbin Ice and Snow Festival in winter. Walk into this vast pure lovely fairyland of 60,000 square meters and meet the incredible “white visual storm”. Have a close look at the thousands of excellent large-scaled artistic snow sculptures of landscape, cartoon, figures, buildings, etc., which will make you wow at the outstanding talent of the craftsmen who inject life into the cold snow. With so amazing backdrop, you just can’t help taking some great photos to record the nice moment (You are highly advised to wear sunglasses to visit the Snow Sculpture Art Fair since the glary from sunshine on the snow is really intense.)

Then, be escorted to the nearby Siberian Tiger Park, the largest breeding center in the world for endangered Siberian Tigers that. Over 1,300 purebred Siberian Tigers are raised there. You’ll not only pay a safe walk to observe different kinds of tigers (Siberian Tigers, White Tigers, White Lion, Leopard, Liger, etc.), but also take a tourist bus with wire-mesh protection through the park to closely see the tigers and lions and take some photos.

After dinner, you will head to the incredible gorgeous Ice and Snow World, the highlights of annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival. Start your freedom stroll in the dazzling magical world of ice where to appreciate over 2,000 pieces of sculptures of ice and snow including pagodas, towers, famous world architectures, landscapes, and so forth dyed with romantic colorful LED lights, which can easily make you want to stay longer in such an “Ice Wonderland in Harbin”. Besides the sightseeing, if you would like to enjoy the festive atmosphere to the fullest, you can choose to have fun with the world longest sliding, or other winter activities on ice, such as ice maze, ice climbing, skating, etc.

Note: 1) Please wear enough layers of proper clothes and warm shoes to keep you away from the freeze especially when you want to stay here longer to enjoy the beautiful scenery. 2) An indoor Ice and Snow Paradise with smaller scale is built in the scenic area of the Ice and Snow World, and tourists could also enjoy the ice and snow there as well when the festival ends. 3) There may be long queues in front of some hot activity items in the Ice and Snow World during traditional Chinese Lunar New Year and weekends, and you could visit there during other dates to avoid crowds. 

Day 3 Harbin - China Snow Town (B)

In this morning after breakfast, your guide will pick you up at your hotel. Then, you’ll be driven 5~6 hours to China Snow Town, the No.1 China Snow Town located in Shuangfeng Wood Farm in Mudanjiang City, about 280 kilometers from Harbin. On route, you’ll enjoy the beautiful snow scene in the winter wonderland - bright sunshine, clear sky, fresh air, endless snow-capped land, primitive wooden houses…

After arrival, take a short rest in your hotel and then reach up the viewing deck to capture a panoramic view of the amazing China Snow Town, a dreamlike paradise. Later, enjoy a leisure walk along the 500-meter-long Xueyun Avenue with all wooden houses hanging with red lanterns and if you like, try some local snacks at this lively street. Have fun at Snow Town Photography Ground where you can play with snow, bringing you a happy childhood memory. Later, continue your adventure to Dream Home which is a famous site to shoot some Chinese TV series and movies. Take photos and know the real life of the loggers. Walk around the snow town at your own pace, you can enjoy amazing snowscape and experience the lifestyle of snow town people. When the night falls, enjoy charming night view.

Please Note:

1. Weather Condition & What to Wear: The weather is extremely cold in China Snow Town and the temperature is around -15 ℃ to -35 ℃ during November to February. Take enough warm clothes, shoes, windcap, and gloves with you. And sunglasses, sunblocking scream, antifreeze, high-calorie snacks are also needed.

2. Snow Activities to Enjoy more Fun: Many exciting snow activities are provided in this town. If you are interested, you can try skiing, snowmobiling, dog-drawn sled, horse-drawn sled, etc. You need to pay extra fee for each activity.

3. Photography Tips: If you like photography, you can go to Dream Home to shoot the snow mushrooms, performance of Errenzhuan and take photos of sunset and panoramic view of the whole white world. Remember to bring the cold-proofing and warm your camera.

4. Best Location for Night View: Night scene is the essence of China Snow Town. There are three best locations to appreciate night view - Dream Home, Xueyue Avenue and Fairytale World Plank Road.

Day 4 China Snow Town - Jingpo Lake - Dunhua City (B, L)

In this morning, cherish the time to enjoy the snow scenery and fun activities at China Snow Town. After the happy moment at this beautiful town, your guide and driver will escort you to Jingpo Lake with 3-3.5 hours’ driving (about 188 kilometers). Jingpo Lake, literally meaning “Mirror Lake” and reputed as “West Lake in the North”, is the largest alpine lava barrier lake in China and the second largest in the world. It was created by volcanic eruptions as magmatic rocks blocked the flow of the Mudanjiang River. The length of the lake from north to south is 45 km and the widest distance between east and west is only 6 km. In winter time, its crystal clear pools, frozen waterfalls, dense forests and volcanic landform will create a spectacular scroll. Upon arrival, there are three must-do things which would be the highlight of your today’s trip. You will first pay a visit to Diaoshuilou Waterfall flowing through limestone cliffs before cascading 20 meters into Heilong (Black Dragon) Pool. Enjoy the cliff dive performance by Di Huanran who is a 60-year-old men on 36 years of cliff diving and broke world record in 2008. Walk around Heilong Pool and appreciate the beautiful rime hanging on the trees. Move to witness the amazing Ice Fishing scene which is held from December to March. The Worshiping Ceremony is held on January 6 every year that you can not only participate in ice fishing activities, but also taste authentic local fish dishes.

After the tour, drive to Dunhua City (about 135 km with 1.5-2 hours’ driving) for accommodation.

Day 5 Dunhua City - Changbai Mountain - Erdaobaihe Town (B, L)

After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up at the hotel. Have 3-hour scenic driving for 180 kilometers to Changbai Mountain. Also known as Ever White Mountain in Chinese and Changbaek-sanjulgi in Korean, Changbai Mountain range forms the border between the Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Jilin and North Korea. It is one of the top ten famous mountains in China, where the top of the mountain is covered with snow all the year round. It is a dormant volcano boasting rare animals, lush forests, clear lakes and bubbling hot springs. The most beautiful of the lakes is Tian Chi (Heavenly Lake), the deepest alpine lake in China. Changbai Mountain is divided into four slopes - North, South, West and East (within the territory of North Korea). The most recommended part is visiting the Northern Slope which has the most attractions and is easily access to Heavenly Lake. Take the sightseeing bus and vehicle directly reaching up to Heavenly Lake which is at 2189 meters above the sea level. This lake has been recognized as the highest volcanic lake in the world by Guinness Book of Records. With white clouds and blue sky, Heavenly Lake surrounded by 16 peaks is like a jade in the sky. Catch the rare time to enjoy unbelievable panoramic view of this beautiful lake. After that, get down for for further sightseeing and enjoy different winter views. You will head to Changbai Waterfall with its water melted from Heavenly Lake at a height of 68 meters, making the longest volcanic waterfall in the world. Overlook the grand waterfall at the viewing deck that you can see two strands just like two huge flying dragons above the ground. Get back to Small Heavenly Lake hidden in the primitive birch forest where ou can enjoy some walking along the river. Move to Green Deep Pool which is reputed as “Little Jiuzhai Valley in Northeast China” with emerald water and small waterfalls falling from the cliff - very elegant. The last spot is Valley Forest. When the volcano erupted, the volcano cone broke and collapsed, forming a valley of 50 meters deep and about 3,000 meters long from north to south. There are tall ancient trees and huge rocks at the bottom of the valley, making it a natural oxygen bar. Take a short walk in the primitive forest. After that, take the sightseeing bus to get down the mountain.

After the tour, you will be taken to the hotel in Erdaobaihe Town. Have a good rest tonight.

Warm Tips:

Weather Condition & What to Wear: The weather is extremely cold in Changbai Mountain and the temperature is around -15 ℃ to -30 ℃ during November to February. Take take all your warm gears, like cotton trousers, thermal underwear, down jacket, fleece gloves, wool hat, thermal underwear, etc.

Day 6 Erdaobaihe Town - Jilin City (B, L)

After breakfast, your guide and driver will take you to Changbai Korean Folk Village located about 3.5 km in the east of Changbai County. This ethnic village is situated at the Southern Slope of Changbai Mountain and at the source of the Yalu River. The Korean group is one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized in China. Buildings in the village fully present the traditional customs and styles of the Korean ethnic group. Enjoy a relaxing walk in the village and have a look at its Memorial Archway, the Magpie Bridge, Bronze Bull, waterwheel, rare stone garden, square, cultural wall, and scenic walls, etc. Without stepping on the territory of North Korea, you can fully enjoy Korean ethnic culture in this folk village.

After the tour, be escorted to Jilin City which needs about 6 hours’ driving for 433 kilometers. Upon arrival, your guide will help you check in your hotel. If your energy permits, go for a relaxing visit to Beishan Park. Known as the “sacred ground for nine dragons”, Beishan Park has a history of over 300 years, with well blending of traditional Chinese culture including Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and folk culture. Watch local kids and adults playing happily ice skating, skiing, etc. on the large square to feel the sports atmosphere in winter. Walk up along the steps to breathe the fresh cool air and climb up to octagonal Lanyue Pavilion to have a panorama of Jilin city dressed in white and silver like a snow beauty!

Day 7 Jilin City - Wusong Island - Jilin Departure (B, L)

You will get up early today! After your breakfast at the hotel, your guide and driver will meet you at the hotel and then drive about 1.5 hour to visit Wusong Island (Rime Island for its beautiful rime scenery). With the best type of rimes with outstanding thickness, density and structure, much more beautiful than those in the rest of China, Wusong Island is the best place to see the natural miracle of rimes in the whole country.

Walk to say hello to the sunrise of the day. As the sun rises, more radiance sends out to to change the sky into golden, orange, pink, rose, purple, etc., and the mists over the water rise gradually to make the outline of the trees partly hidden and partly visible, which is a superb dreamy visual feast of this winter! Press your shutter as free to record such gorgeous natural masterpiece. Then, after the sky gets bluer, walk around the snow covered path, along the water and under the trees to admire the white and silver rimes decorating like the special winter jade flowers on the new dressing from winter. Enjoy your romantic dating with the fabulous sightseeing and take more amazing photos! (Best Time for Wusong Island rime photography: rimes usually occur from December to middle February in winter, and January is the month with more frequent rime days. As rimes drops after noon hours, 07:00-11:30 is the best time for shooting the rimes and the sunrise of the day with 10:00-11:30 being the best time for rimes with blue sky.)

After the tour, your guide and driver will escort you to the airport or train station for your flight / train to next destination or home. Service ends!

The quotation for this trip is from Request Per Person

1. This price is for one person, based on a group of 2 adults sharing one standard double-bed room in 4-star hotel and traveling with our private tour in low seasons.
2. This price is subject to change according your traveling season, group size, hotel class, change of activities in your itinerary and possible fluctuation of currency exchange rate. If you want a lower price, you can get more people to join you, or use economy class hotels.
3. This price is only valid to March 31, 2025.
4. Reference exchange rate of USD 1=RMB 7.00. The final quote is based on current exchange rate. It may change according to the currency fluctuation, while the RMB quotation will be remained the same.

How Our Teams Serve you at China Discovery

"Highest Standards of Quality and Honesty" is the core value of each specialized team at China Discovery.

Eveyone in our company is working hard for only one goal, which is to ensure the highest level of service, luxury, and attention to detail from the minute you begin planning your trip, to the day you return home.

1-on-1 Travel Consultant

Our travel consultants are professional, experienced and responsible, helping you from the very beginning to the end of your China trip!

After sending us an inquiry, one of our travel consultants will get back to you within 0.5~23.5 hrs. In the next few days, he/she will be working closely with you to formulate a customized tour plan, as well as providing professional suggestions based on your travel interests, time, and budget.

Beside, he/she will keep in contact with you during your entire tour in China, continually checking if everything is going well as planned.

We're working at Chengdu Bamboo International Tours, local based in Chengdu.

Local Tour Guides

Our local guide in every destination is not only very friendly, enthusiastic but also very informative and knowledgeable.

Once you arrive in the destination, the patient and punctual guides will pick you up and take you to get under skin of the city at your own pace. By in-depth discovery and explanation, they’ll show you more about the history, culture, customs and authentic local life. Throughout the journey, they're not only expert guides who take care of all the details but also fellow travelers who are dedicated to help you explore in comfort and style.

Our guides are passionate about what they do, and it shows all the way!

Local Drivers & Vehicle

Using our private transfer service makes you comfortable, relaxed and worry free all the way!

Our private service includes licensed drivers with many years’ driving experience and air-conditioned, non-smoking, clean and well-maintained cars/vans. Drivers are local, polite, friendly and helpful, taking you to your tourist sites, hotels, airport/train stations in safety. All kinds of vehicle are offered, and yours depends on the size of your group. Usually, we offer sedan cars, SUVs, business vans (MPV) and different types of buses, all with extra space for your luggage.

Our private transfer service guarantees you the highest comfort!

Comfortable & Homelike Hotels

In each destination, you’ll enjoy a comfortable stay in a great location!

The hotels we choose are based on star rating, great locations, well-equipped facilities, cozy bed, high quality service and guests’ feedbacks. Choices are a lot ranging from luxury 5 star, comfortable 4 star to budget 3 star. You could decide where to stay to best suit for your budget and likes. Generally, the hotels have both Western and Chinese breakfast with a wide choices.

If you have already got an ideal hotel, please feel free to tell our travel consultants and they'll book the hotel for you.

Have good sleep in our well-selected hotels in all the destinations of China.

Meals & Dining

We can satisfy all the dietary requirements no matter you want Chinese local food, western food, vegetarian food or muslin food.

The restaurants we will take you for lunch or dinner are all designated tourist restaurants approved by local tourist administration bureau. They have very good sanitary conditions and the food is prepared fresh and clean.

There will be some meals excluded in your itinerary as you like, and your private guide will be delighted to give you some suggestions and take you to the local restaurants to taste like Beijing Roast Duck, Xian Dumpling Dinner, Sichuan Hotpot, etc., if you are interested in local food tasting.

All the dining options will satisfy your stomach!

Check What our delighted customers are saying about our services

Hi Rita,

The best experience ever!!!! I fell in love.

I received your lovely card and cute gifts, thank you so much.

Done it! As always it’s my pleasure to hire your company services, see you in the next adventure.

Emmy

Emmy‚ Mexico, December 15, 2024

Hi Rita,

Please kindly see the feedback below.

We are a family of 7. This private tour package definitely met our expectations! Both tour guides (Chengdu- MAY & Chongqing-DAVID) provided us a very good service, both friendly and very flexible despite the change in our tour schedules. They were also very responsible and ensured our safety, meals and transports were well taken care of, especially since we have elderly and kids in our group. Both tour guides are very fluent in English too so it is very convenient for some of the non-chinese speakers in our group.

We will look for the same tour agent again in our next trip to China!

Best Regards,

Victoria

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Victoria‚ Singapore, December 14, 2024

Hi Shirley,

Thanks for the tour, and the itinerary that you planned for us was very comprehensive and detailed. We enjoyed it very much. The tour guide was also very friendly and experienced. He followed your itinerary closely and brought us to all the sites and explained in detail. He also recommended and brought us to enjoy some of the local cuisines during lunch.

Overall, we are impressed by the excellent service, reliability and quality that yourself, the tour guide and the driver has provided us. We would like to visit China again and we will not hesitate to engage your services again. Thank you!

Regards

Chun How

Chun How‚ Singapore, December 14, 2024

Hi Shirley,

I'm writing to provide some feedback on our recent Xian and Beijing trip that you put together for us.

We travel a lot, in the past year to Japan, New Zealand, China, Turkey, Africa, China, and finally this Xian/Beijing trip. I bring this up to highlight that we deal with a lot of travel professionals. You are easily the best travel professional we have dealt with through all of those trips. My wife, who happens to be Chinese asked me to make sure to keep your contact information for future China trips, with the intention of replacing the China based agent her brother usually uses for our trips.

Please let your manager know that we would probably not have used your company if not for you. Bamboo Travel is new to us and in a foreign country, so we had doubts as to what to expect. Your service was excellent from start to finish which really gave us confidence in your company. We had a little bit of an unusual itinerary and some constraints related to our other China travel prior to this tour. You were able to work through all of our issues with fast responses to our questions.

You also went what I would say was above and beyond expectations. The final example of that is a friend in the US was shipping some things to our hotel in Beijing for me to bring home to her. I contacted you to confirm the hotel name before they shipped the items, expecting I would then have to figure out the shipping details. Your reply not only confirmed the hotel, but you provided the shipping info in both English and Chinese, which saved me the hassle of trying to figure which address to use. Not a huge thing, but it's those small things that add up to a big difference in customer experience.

Thanks again for everything!

Xian:

Our guide was Waldner and we liked him from the start. We were just coming off another tour with another company which had maybe the best tour leader we've ever had. Even though we were always comparing Waldner measured up well. He was great at explaining the history of places we visited as well as answering our cultural questions. The restaurants/food were very good. He and the driver also modified the itinerary somewhat to optimize the driving based on our arrival and departure times and locations. We liked the hotel in Xian. The car (van) was very comfortable. Waldner also helped arrange tickets for a night show for us.

Beijing:

Pickup was great; even though we got in late the guide that picked us up was there and actually met us at the track. Cindy was our guide and we really liked her also. She is very knowledgeable and willing to answer (a lot of) questions. This was my 3rd time in Beijing and it was amazing what a difference having a good guide made. Cindy and the driver also modified the itinerary to optimize the driving. She also helped us book tickets to two shows, one of which was not on your list of optional items (Lao She tea house). Cindy was concerned about us ordering a cab so she stayed at the show to make sure we got back to our hotel ok. The restaurants/food were very good. The hotel was good but not great; for example we had hot water issues every day, and when I went to pick up a package that was shipped to me they just left me to dig through a pretty large pile of packages all addressed in Chinese.

To wrap up, I would rate the overall experience of looking for a trip, picking a company, and traveling 9.5 out of 10. Shirley, your service was 10 out of 10.

See you next trip!

Terry

Terry ‚ USA, December 11, 2024

Dear Rita,

Feedback.

The trip organised by Rita Jiang to Beijing and Xian was very well planned and enjoyable, showing the best of Chinese history, culture, heritage, and enormous progress.

Your 2 guides, Linda Chua and Beryl are very good. Linda went out of her way to take us to Peking Opera at night. The kids were tired, so we did not go to Summer palace and Heavenly temple, and did not go to Xian Pagoda. It was our choice, so its ok. (I have been to all)

The 2 bus drivers were excellent, very careful, disciplined and good temperament and helpful. I could not give a tip to Beryl at Xian station, as I had to rush into toilet inside, and did not know she could not enter the train Station.

The pace was good, but the last day of train from Xian, to hotel (plus late dinner scrabbling in Beijing), then early next morning to airport was too Hectic. However, it was because we had to return on 8.12.24. we wish we could stay longer in Xian, and elsewhere. We could probably have gone to Xian by train, then fly back to Beijing by plane, but one way tickets could cost much more.

Anyway, thank you very much for all your fine arrangements. We all enjoyed the short trip.

For the kids, the major highlights were the Great Wall, Terracotta warriors, Acrobatic show. They will treasure. I will plan more trips for them to China.

Best wishes and warm regards,

Richard

Richard‚ Singapore, December 11, 2024

Check What our customers are saying about us on Tripadvisor.com

excellent assistance, helpfulness and courtesy. My contact 'was Shirley, prepared friendly and punctual. Highly recommended...

Luciano P

"Travel consultant Mr Wonder Wang was so helpful and he planned our trip to Xi’an and Beijing so well. Mr Waldner is an amazing guide. His knowledge and enthusiasm made our tour very memorable..." read more »

Reviewed on December 13, 2024

Luciano P

"excellent assistance, helpfulness and courtesy. My contact 'was Shirley, prepared friendly and punctual. Highly recommended..." read more »

Reviewed on December 13, 2024