3 Losses, 1 Banquet and the Dragon Tower

We finished the tournament today with a 1-4 record against the young boys teams… a fairly disappointing result. We lost 6-0 to the stronger QiQiHar team on Monday, followed by a 6-3 loss to the weaker Harbin team (actually 4-3, with two empty net goals) and finally today we skated to a 2-1 loss to the only Jia Mu Si team in the tournament. We played very well at times, and very poorly at others, over the course of the week, still struggling to find our consistency.

Last evening after the game, the members of China hockey treated us to a Banquet to welcome my parents to Harbin. Coach Ji, Mr Zhou, Jenny and Mr. An joined Tim and I and my parents for the traditional “Hot Pot” dinner. Both of my parents very much enjoyed the meal, we kept the toasts to a minimum and my Dad was even daring enough to try the “devil wine” which he equated to drinking lighter fluid. I have not tasted lighter fluid, but I will take his word as I have tasted the “devil wine.”

After today’s game , we had some lunch and then headed to Dragon Tower looks like the Space Needle. You can see it below in the skyline as seen from my parents hotel and also from the base looking up.



We paid the $11 (US) to go up to the top and although it was very cold and windy we got a great 360 degree view of the city of Harbin which is indescribably large. The city spread out in all directions as far as we could see. At the top, there is also a revolving restaurant, which for $5 more we could have been seated. Also inside, at the entry level there is a three story atrium museum, and Harbin’s own Dinosaur exhibit, which our admission allowed us to visit also.

Here are some views of Harbin from above, clicking on them will give the bigger version…


Looking North towards downtown Harbin with the Songhua River further North.

Looking Northeast, the observant person can find the Ferris Wheel and the huge roof of the speed skating oval to its left in our Winter Sports Complex.


Looking Northwest as the sun sets, the Harbin golf course is in the foreground.

Good Night from Harbin, the Ice Festival pictures are coming soon….