I’ve lived here for a decade and usually tell people to skip the "viral" spots. But Harbin in January is the exception.

I’m currently up north and it’s -28°C. My eyelashes are freezing together and I can barely feel my fingers to type this.

I see a lot of first timers asking if the Ice and Snow World is a tourist trap or if it’s "too crowded" or "too cold."

As someone who has traveled pretty much every province and usually prefers the quiet, hidden-gem stuff … just go.

It’s one of the few places on earth that actually looks more insane in real life than it does on IG. Standing under those towers when the lights turn on doesn't feel like a "tourist attraction." It feels like being inside a CPU cooler on a different planet.

Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, it’s brutally cold. But the scale of it is something you can’t really understand until you’re standing at the bottom looking up.

If you’re on the fence for a trip before CNY kicks off, do it. Just bring more heat patches than you think you need.