Mudanjiang: A Day in Photos

We spent the first day of the lunar new year out in the bustle of Mudanjiang, enjoying street foods, being attacked by pigeons, and participating in the ice festivities at the city park. I'm going to let these photos assist me in telling the story:

Street vendors were out in dozens, despite the holiday. We tried candied fruit kebabs, seasoned meat kebabs, baked yams, and this lovely squid-on-a-stick (note: I could not finish squid-on-a-stick due to the grodiness of the seasoning). One food we avoided: "stinky tofu." It smells like rotting garbage but is said to taste delicious. I am going with my nose on this one.

A man was selling pigeon feed for 3 yuan. The pigeons gathered in great anticipation of our purchase. They were particularly fond of Vanessa....

But Lu and I had our fair share of pigeon love...

Then the city park, which had ice sculptures and cotton candy.

The letters read: "Mudanjiang Ice Castle"

Down below the park, the Mudan river was frozen a meter thick. 10 yuan to scoot around the river on chair-sleds. 15 yuan for the ice slides...

We didn't get any photos of the hours we spent sliding down the ice slides onto the river. But I did get some video. I've been holding off posting any video of this trip until a later date when I can compile it all together. But I thought I'd share this little clip I took while going down the slide.