Harbin in February: Weather, Top Things to Do, Useful Tips

Take Part in International Ice and Snow Festival

Harbin is famous for the International Ice and Snow Festival. It usually opens nearly from 5th, January of every year, and may last about 2 month. Therefore, if you visit Harbin in February, you can also have the opportunity to join it.

The biggest highlights of this festival are snow and ice sculptures, although there are also many branch activities, such as skiing game, swimming game, etc. Every year when the festival is about to come, craftsman from all over the China will go to Harbin to create ice-/snow-sculptures - the most beautiful scenery of Harbin in winter. The material of ice sculptures is carried from Songhua River. While the material of snow sculptures is made of both natural and man-made snow. After days of hardworking, those delicate and vivid sculptures will be shown for you.

You will see enormous huge ice sculptures in Harbin’s Ice and Snow World and Stalin Park, which imitate those iconic buildings from all over the world. Then you can see huge and delicate snow sculptures in Sun Island, modeled after some famous figures from both western and Chinese culture.

Just come and take photos with these sculptures and play in ice buildings!

Join the Lantern Fair

If you go to Harbin in February, you can take part in various celebrations of Chinese Spring Festival and even Lantern Festival. The most attractive thing during these festivals is the lantern fair. It is a must-do activity for Harbin people.

There are two kinds of lantern fairs you could join. The one is the ordinary one with common lanterns as other places. You can see them in the Central Avenue and some other parks. The other one is the ice lantern fair in Zhaolin Park. The latter one is a featured activity of Harbin. If you go to ice lantern fair of Harbin, so many colorful lanterns with different shapes will feast your eyes.

Appreciate Firework Show

Firework show can not be missed in Chinese festivals. As both Spring Festival and Lantern Festival are in February, so you can have the chance to appreciate fascinating firework shows in Harbin’s Outlets, Harbin’s Ice and Snow World, etc. After dinner, it will be so relaxing to enjoy a beautiful firework show!

Have a Skiing Tour

As a city with such low temperature in winter, Harbin has many natural ski resorts for you to experience the feeling of “flying over snowfield”. These ski resorts have professional coaches and are full of relevant equipment. You could choose Yabuli Ski Resort which is famous for its longest ski trail in Asia.

Visit Snow’s Homeland - China Snow Town

China Snow Town, the no.1 snow town in China, is the best place to appreciate a paradise-like world with very beautiful snowscape. Located at the Shuangfeng Forest in Hailin County of Heilongjiang Province, China Snow Town is about 280 km away from Harbin. The snow here can up to about 2 meters. Snow looks like milk scream and hangs from the eaves to the ground, forming a unique scene of "snow curtains". You also can take part in lots of winter activities. Here, it can satisfy your imagination and desire about snow.

Other Useful Links

>>Harbin to China Snow Town
>>5 Days Charming Harbin & China Snow Town Winter Tour
>>5 Days Harbin Winter Tour with Yabuli Ski Resort

We have already known that the temperature in Harbin in February varies from -24℃(-11.2℉) to 7℃(44.6℉), which is so cold for you. So you must be prepared for keeping yourself warm. Furthermore, you should know that indoor temperature of Harbin is about 18℃ (64.4℉), so you don’t need to wear too many in indoors. However, when you go out for outdoor activities, you have to wear more to prevent yourself from getting cold.

◆Clothes: The temperature difference between day and night is great, so you need to dress right for the temperature. You need to wear thermal underwear which is soft, loose and breathable. Then you wear sweater, fleece series and waterproof jacket. If you don’t have waterproof jacket, you could also wear water-/wind-/cold-proof down jacket.

◆Shoes: The cold stars from your feet. So you need to wear cold-proof shoes with thick sole. The top choice is a pair of hiking boots. It would be better for you to wear water-proof shoes in case of snow water soaking your socks. You can also wear the gaiters over your shoes.

◆Glove: It is advised to wear cotton or fleece gloves with five fingers, so that you could play or work flexibly.

◆Cap: It is advised to wear wool cap which can keep your ears warm. You can also wear overcoat with cap.

In addition, you should also wear mask and wind-proof scarf. All in all, just wear as warm as you can, and wear multiple layers, so you can take them off as you heat up.

1. Keep yourself warm while touring in Harbin in January. When you have some outdoor activities, keep your camera, telephone and other electronic equipment warm to work with battery. You can also take several batteries to keep your camera working.

2. It is advised to bring backpack rather than rod box considering your convenience.

3. You need to bring moisturizer and any other skincare products to stay your face and hands hydrating, as it is dry and cold in winter. A lip balm will also be needed for you. It is advised to eat more fruits and drink more water to prevent yourself from the dry weather.

4. As the cuisine in Harbin may be salty for you if you always eat some light food, so you can ask for adjustment before ordering food.

5. As the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor is great, you need to wear right according to the temperature.

6. If you are not live in cold places, then those thick clothes sold in your country may not be cold-proof enough in Harbin. Therefore, you could buy down jacket in Harbin.

7. While you have some winter activities with a little risk like skiing, etc, you should listen to your coach and keep yourself safe.

8. If you accidentally have some frostbite, remember not to warm it with hot water but ask help from doctors.

9. Bring sunglasses in case of snow blindness.

Recommended Tours
>>3 Days Classic Harbin Winter Tour
>>3 Days Harbin Ice Festival Tour

Usually, most travellers spend about 2 to 4 days when touring in Harbin, covering 2 days catching highlights of downtown area of Harbin city and 1 to 2 days exploring the hot destinations around Harbin city. In Harbin’s downtown area, you could enjoy those delicate masterpiece of artists, such as ice lantern show in Zhaolin Park, Ice and Snow World, Sun Island Scenic Resort, etc. You can also appreciate St. Sophia Cathedral, Zhongyang Pedestrian Street, and Laodaowai Baroque Styled Architectures, etc. After visiting downtown area of Harbin, travellers can spend one full day to the Yabuli Ski Resort, a ski resort that is about 220 km away from Harbin, to experience the most professional skiing. Otherwise, they will spend one full day to the China Snow Town, the no.1 snow town in China that is about 280 km away from Harbin, to see the paradise-like snowscape. Some travellers may combine the trip in Harbin downtown area with these two destinations.
>>5 Days Harbin Winter Tour with Yabuli Ski Resort
>>5 Days Charming Harbin & China Snow Town Winter Tour

Furthermore, you could also combine your Harbin tour with any other hot travel destinations in China, such as Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Guilin, Lhasa, etc.
>>4 Days Harbin Fantastic Winter Tour from Tianjin Cruise Port
>>6 Days Beijing & Harbin Stunning Winter Tour by Flight
>>8 Days Northeast China Tour with Harbin Ice & Snow Festival