Posted on: January 05, 2017 | | 中文
Snowflakes are floating around in the sky and falling down to the ground. The world is covered in silver-white. Snow embellishes the winter with unique charms. Snowscapes in different areas of China attract people with their sheer beauty. Here are some of the most attractive places for you to enjoy the snow.?
The old natives of Beijing all know that the winter, especially after heavy snowfall in the afternoon, is the best time to visit the Imperial Palace. With few visitors, and beautiful snow all around, the solemnity and stateliness of the imperial palace becomes manifest. Many video programs about Beijing were shot in the snowy Imperial Palace, for the atmosphere of the old imperial times in the snow seems to have many a story to tell, such as an “emperor” coming back to a hall to meet his ministers. Hence, when it snows, the Imperial Palace is often the first choice on the trip itinerary of people visiting Beijing in the winter. Standing in its large square, one can feel the history of ancient China by experiencing the feelings of the dynasties and spirits that are embodied by the history and heritage of hundreds of years.
Lying quietly in a valley along with the Altay Mountains in northern Xinjiang, Winter Hemu Village is encircled by snow-capped mountains, covered with silver-looking forests of birches and pines. Tuva people live in this solemn and quiet area. There are three villages of the Tuva people in the Kanas. Hemu is the largest one, and the Tuva folk culture is best preserved in it.
Climbing up to a terrace north of the village, one can see the entire Hemu Village, where white birch trees and snowcapped mountains set each other off. The old wooden houses and sleighs that are slowly moving in the silk-white land, and Tovinians and Kazaks riding on their horses whose faces are covered in snow or frog flakes, give the appearance of a simple and elegant Chinese painting. One may encounter a group of Tuvinians practicing their archery, or running through the pine trees on their homemade animal-skin skis in the thick snow-covered mountain slopes. If you come here during local festivals, you will get to enjoy a grand celebration with local music, dance and folklore activities in this snowland.
Located in the Hailin City of Heilongjiang Province of Northeast China, Shuangfeng forest farm is a must-visit if one wants to enjoy the best snowscapes in China. The place feels almost as if it’s from a fairy tale. The snow covers everything, and gives all sorts of shapes to different objects. The mushroom-like snow formed by wind is interspersed with wooden houses with slowly rising chimney smoke. With the sun rising and frogs dispersing, dogs run with the sleds and bark occasionally and kids also move back and forth on their skis. You will be deeply moved by the calmness and silence here, especially if you come from a city with a lot of hustle and bustle.
As one of China's four natural wonders, Jilin Rime (Jilin City of Jilin Province) is paralleled with Huangshan Mountain Cloud Sea (Anhui Province), Taishan Mountain Sunrising (Shandong Province) and the Tidal bore at the Mouth of Qiantang River (Zhejiang Province) (Guilin Landscape, Yunnan's Stone Forest and Yangtse Gorges) for its natural landscapes and beautiful scenes. Jilin rimes present pure, elegant, spectacular and magical snowland scenery. In cold winter time, tourists at home and abroad are all attracted by its poetic scenes and they say it is the best snowscape and the most attractive winter resort in north China.
What is amazing is that the part of Songhua River flowing by the city is not frozen in the cold winter time, and water in this part of the river flows slowly along the snow-covered banks stretching hundreds of miles. From far away, it looks like snowy waves moving under white clouds. The Rime Island at the lower reaches of the Songhua River provides the best place to enjoy willow belts on banks, with pure and white frostworks hanging in their trunks and branches, which look splendid and unique against the snowland and blue sky, waving and swinging gracefully in the cold wind.
The well-known Broken Bridge of Westlake in Hangzhou City was said to be the place where the white-snake fairy met her lover, who was in the same boat and borrowed her umbrella. This was the starting point of a sad and lingering love story.
Located south of the Yangtze River, Hangzhou City has a short period of heavy snow. It is rare to see the snow scenery, called the ‘Melting Snow’ at Broken Bridge. With mountains in front and the city in the rear, the Broken Bridge stands at the eastern end of the Bai Causeway along the West Lake. The bridge, standing right at the watershed between the Outside Lake and the Northern Inside Lake, is the best place to see the snowscape in West Lake in the winter time for its broad vision.
Climbing up the Baoshi Mountain and overlooking the south in a sunny day after snow, one can see the Bai Causeway shining like a sliver chain. The section in the sun exposes its brown color and the section in the shade is still covered in snow, so one can see a broken bridge from one side and a complete one from the other.
The five well-known sceneries in the Conch Gully are Jinshan Mountains in the sun, the glacier down to the high slopes, the hot spring in the snow valley, and the primeval forest and Khampa Tibetan people's lifestyle. The Conch Gully, located at the eastern slope of Kunga Mountains and also southeast of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, is a hilly area of extreme height. Though lying at the bottom of the Kunga Mountains, the contemporary glaciers are seen in areas of low altitude. Once in the winter, the whole gully will be covered by snow and the glaciers also stretch out from the higher valley to the lower areas. The huge ice hole and steep ice arch make the whole place look like a crystal fairyland. Over 1,000 meters high and 1,100 meters wide, the unrivalled ice fall is ten times bigger than the famous Huangguoshu waterfalls.
One can enjoy a hot spring if the ice fall is far away. Seeing through the misty vapor, one can see the snow-covered land and mountains. It really feels as if one is in a worldly paradise, sitting in the hot spring with snow falling all around.
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