Late Harbin visit

Greetings, I would like to ask a few questions concerning our upcoming visit to Harbin. We are planning on going around Feb 20th to see the ice festival (humm dreadful question: is it too late? ) We would%26#39;ve gone sooner but let%26#39;s just say that there were some complications.

And also, is there some cheap hostels whereas price is similar to Harbin Little Fir Youth Hostel ? (about 50rmb per night) We would%26#39;ve gone to the Little Fir but after reading some reviews... seems like this is a kind of place we should stay away from.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Late Harbin visit

That%26#39;s the only IYH in Harbin.

I would personally pay more for location (near/on Zhongyang Dajie) and quality of accommodation. In this case you really do get what you pay for. Cheaper digs available around the train station but 20/2 is the 2nd day of Chinese New Year and those areas would be crawling with riff-raff. In addition, it doesn%26#39;t really make sense to skimp on location and then have to spend money and time taking taxis to the sights, especially since the taxi drivers seem to enjoy overcharging foreigners and non-Harbinese.

Late Harbin visit

Aaaah crap. Oh well, I didn%26#39;t know that the number of hostels was so little in Harbin since it would seem that it%26#39;s a fancy place for tourists. We%26#39;ll look into something more expensive but more importantly, concerning the ice festival, is it even worth going there in february?

Because if we can spare our money and doing something more worthwhile, than we would totally skip the visit to Harbin this year.

By the way, thanks for the quick answer :)

The place I stayed at was about 100 metres off Zhongyang Dajie and cost 368 RMB/night for a twin with ensuite for 20-22/1. I don%26#39;t think it would be any much cheaper for around 20/2 since that%26#39;s the 3rd day of Chinese New Year, people would already start travelling with family and friends for leisure.

I can%26#39;t judge what the situation with the ice and snow sculptures would be like since both times I%26#39;ve been there were in January (2005 and 2007). However quite a number of places in northeast China have been working hard on promoting their winter tourism this year, notable examples being Changbaishan and Changchun in Jilin province. The latter was the venue of the 6th Asian Winter Games which ended only a few days ago.