Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival 2011 | China Tours

Harbin is the capital city of the Heilongjiang Province which is the most north-easterly part of China and borders Russia. During the long cold winter months the temperature can drop down to as low as -22°F (-30°C). Snow carvings, ice lanterns, fireworks display and snow recreations make Harbin one of China’s most popular winter destinations.

The Harbin International Ice Festival is one of world’s four largest international ice festivals, along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival. It starts annually on January 5 and lasts for over one month, weather permitting. During this period, people throughout the world take part in the various artist, cultural, athletic and tourist events.

The 27th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will start on December 1, 2010 and last to February 28, 2011. The ceremony will be officially held in January 5, 2011. As it before the festival is held with many winter activities, such as alpine skiing, sledding, winter-swimming, ice sculpture competition, ice & snow carnival, ice lantern exhibition and firework display etc. Come with us, alternatively, meet us there. We will discover the interesting winter facts and do the "adventurous" things in the China's 'North Pole'- Harbin.

Thanks To : Totally Cool Pix And China Fact Tours

US Navy Ship Sunk To Create New Diving Attraction

USS Kittiwake, a decommissioned US navy submarine rescue ship, has been intentionally sunk to create a scuba diving attraction.

Now lying on the ocean floor off the Cayman Islands, the 251-foot long, five-deck military ship, will become an artificial reef for divers to enjoy.

Officials say after acquiring the ship they cleaned it before flooding the rusty hull so it would sink upright and then punching holes into the hull and pumped in sea water.

This caused the Kittiwake to sink dramatically in a cascade of bubbles, but don't take our word for it, check out the amazing pictures below.

The ship is now sitting under 60ft of water just off the coast of Grand Cayman Island and is quickly becoming home to curious creatures including stingrays, barracuda and various schools of smaller fish.

It is hoped Kittiwake Cayman will soon become a destination for divers who will be able to snorkel overhead and see the main decks and topography of the ship or explore rooms of the wreck.

A spokesperson for Cayman Islands Tourism Association said: "The Kittiwake is quite at home at her new home with the fishes.

"Day by day she will transform in to a living coral reef and habitat for hundreds if not thousands of reef fish."

Speaking of the project, Premier McKeeva Bush, of the Cayman Islands, added: "The sinking of the ex-U.S.S. Kittiwake represents the single most significant occurrence in a decade for Cayman's dive industry.

"Since the last year, the Ministry and Department of Tourism have been working hand in hand through many processes to ensure the cleaning and safe movement of the vessel to the Cayman Islands."

World's Scariest Bridges Never stare downstairs

From sky-high suspension bridges to dilapidated rope bridges, these crossings aren’t for the meek.

All beautiful stunning bridges serve a purpose, whether utilitarian or inspirational. And some of them add a distinct element of fear. But you don’t have to be in a remote part of the world: scary bridges exist everywhere, in all shapes, sizes, and heights. And crossing over them can be the ultimate in adventure travel.


Many courageous (or foolhardy) travelers seek out hair-raising bridges just for the thrill. The bridges along the route to Colombia’s National Archaeological Park of Tierradentro are a good example. Though there are safer routes via bus from La Plata, some thrill-seekers choose to ride motorcycles over slippery bamboo crossings deep in the mountains, where one wrong move could mean plunging into a turbulent river.

So get ready to face your fears—or maybe find your next adventure—with our list of the world’s most petrifying bridges.

Aiguille du Midi Bridge
France

Don’t look down. At this height, you’ll want to keep your eyes locked on the panorama of the craggy French Alps. Fortunately, the bridge itself is short, making for an easy escape if acrophobia sets in. But those truly afraid of heights probably won’t even see the bridge; getting here requires taking a cable car that climbs 9,200 vertical feet in just 20 minutes.

Where: The summit of Aiguille du Midi in the Mont Blanc massif near Chamonix.

Stats: 12,605 feet above sea level.

Extraordinary Bridges Around the World

Royal Gorge Bridge
Colorado

America’s highest suspension bridge may be breathtaking for some, but those scared of heights may be left gasping for air as they stare straight down nearly 90 stories at the Arkansas River below. Completed in 1929, the bridge didn’t have stabilizing wind cables until 1982.

Where: Royal Gorge, Colorado, over the Arkansas River.

Stats: 969 feet above the gorge; 1,260 feet long.

Beautiful Bridges around the World

Trift Suspension Bridge
Switzerland

One of the Alps’ longest and highest pedestrian suspension bridges, Trift was built in 2004 to reconnect hikers to a hut made inaccessible by a retreating glacier. A replacement in 2009 gave this bridge higher handrails and stabilizing cables to prevent it from swinging violently in the wind. But it still provides an adrenaline rush.

Where: Trift Glacier, near the town of Gadmen in the Swiss Alps.

Stats: 328 feet high; 558 feet long.

Word first bridges aren't built - they're grown in india

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
Northern Ireland

First things first: nobody has fallen off this bridge. However, many visitors who walk across simply can’t handle the return and have to go by boat. It used to be even scarier. Erected by fishermen who went to the island to catch salmon, the original bridge had only a single handrail. The rope bridge eventually became popular with tourists seeking a thrill, and the National Trust replaced it with a sturdier structure with two handrails.

Where: Near Ballintoy in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Stats: 65 feet long; nearly 100 feet above the rocks below.

10 Beautiful Bridges Around the World

Capilano Suspension Bridge
Canada

Originally built in 1889, this simple suspension footbridge surrounded by an evergreen forest is very high, fairly narrow, and extremely shaky—the cedar planks bounce on their steel cables as you walk across them. If the bridge doesn’t scare you, wait until the spring of 2011; the Cliffhanger attraction will allow visitors to climb across a series of suspended walkways attached to a cliff.

Where: North Vancouver, British Columbia, across the Capilano River.

Stats: 450 feet long; 230 feet high.

Top 10 Longest Bridges In World

Mackinac Bridge
Michigan

Some drivers get so nervous about crossing this five-mile-long bridge that they don’t even go. And this happens so often that the Mackinac Bridge Authority will drive your car or motorcycle for you (and for free). The biggest fear is the wind, which often exceeds 30 miles per hour on the bridge.

Where: Between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

Stats: 5 miles long; 199 feet above the water.

10 Most Beautiful Stunning Bridges Around The World

Puente de Ojuela
Mexico

This bridge leads to a ghost town, but it’s the squeaky wood floor that makes it scary. Fortunately, steel cables suspended from two towers bring a greater feeling of safety. Still, steel is a relatively recent addition: when German engineer Santiago Minhguin built this bridge in the 19th century, those towers were made of wood.

Where: The ghost town of Ojuela, an old mining settlement in the northern state of Durango, Mexico.

Stats: 1,043 feet long; 2 feet wide; 360 feet above a gorge.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge
Maryland

Drivers are notoriously afraid of this bridge, as it’s subjected to frequent—and often violent—storms. And when the bad weather hits, forget about visibility: get to the middle of this five-mile-long bridge and you can barely see land.

Where: Spanning the Chesapeake Bay to connect Maryland’s eastern and western shores.

Stats: Nearly 5 miles long; 186 feet high at its highest point.

Monkey Bridges
Vietnam

It may seem that only monkeys could make it across traditional monkey bridges—after all, they’re typically made of a single bamboo log and one handrail. However, the name comes from the stooped monkey-like posture you have to maintain when crossing, so as not to plunge into the river below.

Where: Various points across the Mekong Delta at the southern tip of Vietnam.

Stats: These bridges are built by hand by local residents and vary from town to town. Newer ones are made of concrete.

Hussaini Hanging Bridge
Pakistan

Massive gaps between the planks, a wild side-to-side swing: there are reasons this is considered one of the world’s most harrowing suspension bridges. While rickety cable and wood bridges are common in this area, crossing this bridge over the rapidly flowing Hunza River is particularly frightening, as the tattered remains of the previous bridge hang by threads next to the one currently in use.

Where: In the village of Hussaini in Northern Pakistan, crossing the Hunza River.

Stats: Floodwaters reportedly submerged the bridge in May 2010. However, due to its draw as a popular adventure-travel activity, the bridge is likely to be rebuilt.

Historical photograph of New York in a new light

Not so long ago, Reuel Golden released his new book, "New York, a portrait of the city." The book presents a set of photographs taken Ester Bubble (1921-1998) and Alvin Hofer (1922-2009), tells the story of the largest U.S. city, and there is really rare old photographs, which had not seen anyone.

Suggest taking a look at some of them.

1. 1964: The network of urban roads (Photo by Evelyn Hofer). In the archives of the New York Historical Society can also find plenty of lesser-known images in New York.

2. 1877: Children playing on the beach of Coney Island. (George Bradford Brainerd (Brooklyn Museum / Brooklyn Public Library)

3. 1907: The British passenger liner returned from his first voyage. At that time it was the largest ocean liner in the world. Until his death in 1915 by a German torpedo hit, "Lusitania" managed to make a 202 flight from Liverpool - New York.

4. 1907: Delancey Street (photo by Eugene de Salignac (from the New York Municipal Archives). This street has always been famous for great discounts at clothing stores. a large poster in the picture, too, promises buyers a large discount.

5. 1927: One of the archival photos taken by an unknown author.

6. Construction of the Empire State Building on Manhattan Island. This 102-storey building for 40 years was not only the tallest skyscraper in New York, but throughout the world. The picture was taken about 1930
(Lewis Hine (George Eastman House)).

7. 1937: a snapshot from the municipal archives in New York, owned by an unknown author.

8. 1946.: that evening at a bar on the Bowery fun women only. During the Great Depression in this area were built many nochlezhek. (Photo by Erica Stone).

9. Beginning of 1950. A man with a book on one of the city benches. Photo of Esther bubble.

Making a Splash Water Color Photographer Creates Patterns

Making a splash: Photographer creates astonishing technicolour patterns using water droplets and ink - These ingenious photographs show amazing multicoloured droplets of ink at the precise moment they impact with the surface of water.

The stunning pictures show drops of red, green and yellow ink bouncing off the water to create mesmerising mid-air shapes not visible to the naked eye.

Each image captures in startlingly sharp detail the droplets frozen in time and cascading as bright colours in all directions.

In one, the ink droplets combine to look like a transparent rainbow mushroom cloud.

And in another, a red stemmed droplet bursts into purple-green life as it splashed blue ink in a circular pattern to create an astounding crest.

The pictures were taken by full-time software engineer Tobias Brauening, 27, from Reutingen, Germany.

He said: 'The most fascinating aspect for me is that a water drop is such a simple thing which happens every day in nature.

'It's wonderful what nature can create, and I like to make this visible to others.

'They wonder how it is possible for the colours to get in there and how I can trigger the camera in the right moment.'

The secret to Mr Brauening's success lies in his interest in technology, computers and photography.

He decided to study the little known subject of mechatronics, which combines all three subjects together to produce the outstanding and challenging images.

'Because I learned something about electronics and microcontrollers while studying, I bought a microcontroller board, built some electronics and started with great success.

'I used three new special valves, experimented with making them drop to the same point and my new images were born.'

First he fills a plastic tank with shallow water. He then adds a different colour to each of the three valves and uses three flashes with contrasting colour filters for the background.

Mr Brauening then sets up his microcontroller and camera, adjusts his three valves and pushes the trigger.

This activates both the valves and the camera shutter, which are synchronised to capture the vital moment.

'But even with all the technical help, sometimes it takes hours until I get the shape and colours that I wish for,' he added.

'A collision of three drops needs accurate timing in a range of a few milliseconds.

'The other issue is the lighting, which needs some practice around the reflections on the water, background, colour filters and the position of the flashes.'

Beautiful Patterns: Pin up girl

What have you finished lately?

Here is an owl softie I made for my son, Benjamin. I used the barn owl from the Sublime Stitching Birds of Prey pattern pack, and enlarged it.

My color inspiration for the stitching comes from this spotted owl fabric by Alexander Henry that I just love.

This is a handkerchief I made as a Christmas gift. I decided to do it in redwork, because I thought it went with the blue really well ... and I was a bit pressed for time too! I used letters from the Sublime Stitching Stitch It Kit Stitch it Kit, and the football is a random transfer I had laying around that I am not sure where came from.







This is another handkerchief I made for my dad for Christmas. This was another one I did in redwork. The lettering is from Aimee Ray's Doodle Stitching Motif Collection Book , and the cheeseburger is from the meaty treats pattern pack by Sublime Stitching.

This is a clutch I made using a sewing pattern by Keykalou. I altered the pattern to have lace in the center, because I felt like it was an inexpensive way to dress up the quilting cotton I used for the body of the bag. I have been using this when I go to holiday parties. It is a lot of fun.

And, this little cutie is a little flower pincushion I made using a pattern from I Love Patchwork. I used some reproduction fabric scraps I had sitting around.

This is a set of cat cameo jewelry/hair pins that I have made for my mom for her birthday next month. I do not think she reads this blog, so I should be safe! She loves cats, and I just thought these cabochons were so cute!!

And, last but not least my sexy WIP. This is a pinup pattern from Sew Lovely Embroidery. I just love it. I altered it a bit to have my gal wearing lingerie instead of a bikini. I also added some anatomically correct body parts under her lacey black bra. The lace parts are actual bits of black lace that I had sitting around. First I adhered them using a small amount of permanent fabric adhesive, then I stitched them on with matching floss. I really love the effect. I had originally started this pinup for an embroidery swap on swap-bot, but I have to admit I sort of fell in love with this piece and dropped out of the swap, Source: Thesplitstitch