What is the best season to visit Harbin? With an avalanche of locals and tourists enjoying the snowy wonderland and braving the frigid temperatures, it's clear to see why the ice city of Harbin is China's perfect winter destination.

When you notice the ice and snow underfoot has become thick, then you know it's that time of the year for Harbin to host one the Ice and Snow Festival, which is one of the world's largest winter events. One highlight is their famous array of ice sculptures, which become dazzlingly illuminated at night.

Harbin's weather is the coldest in January, with daytime temperatures averaging between minus 13 to minus 24 Celsius. Be sure to pack your thickest winter clothes so you don't catch a chill.

Besides for the snowy and cozy fun of the freezing winter, there are plenty of cultural destinations to discover in the city. And we will help you create a bucket list of what you must see during a 72-hour visa-free trip to Harbin.

You absolutely must venture onto the snow in the frozen city. With snow-covered slopes and endless pistes, the Yabuli Ski Resort offers the perfect landscape for skiing in China.

Located about 180 kilometers southeast of Harbin, the resort gets plenty of snowfall during the winter. So much so that the 1996 Asian Winter Games and the 2008 National Winter Games were held here, and it still serves as a primary training venue for the Chinese ski team. The resort is usually open from November to March depending on the weather, and tourists can get there from Harbin City by train, bus, or taxi.

At 1900km long, Songhua River is the world's tenth longest river and it forms the border between China and Russia. You can enjoy a relaxing stroll along the river in summer, but when winter comes, it can be as packed as a beach in July. The river freezes solid, turning it into a winter wonderland for all kinds of ice sports – skating, riding in ice junks, playing snow tanks, and ice biking. The Songhua River freezes for five months every year and a huge amount of the ice used at the Ice and Snow Festival is harvested directly from it

Harbin has a perfect distillation of cultural exchange, as everything in the main street, from architecture to food, is heavily Russian influenced – it is even nicknamed "Eastern Moscow Street". Paved with cobblestones all along its 1,450 meter length, Central Street is a pedestrian-only commercial location where you can run across plenty of Russian-style stores and restaurants, full of exciting and exotic goods.

One of Harbin's icons is the Saint Sophia Cathedral, a former gilded Orthodox church built in 1907 by Russians. It is a stunningly preserved example of Neo-Byzantine architecture. More than just a place of worship, the church is a monumental work of art, and a witness to Harbin's modern history.

The Saint Sophia Cathedral is no longer a religious destination, but functions as the "Harbin Architectural Art Gallery" – a striking reminder of Russian cultural heritage in Harbin that is open to the public.

While Germany might have the best-known beer festivals, Harbin also celebrates as wildly as in Munich. Boasting a beer culture of over 100 years, Harbin was the very first city in China to brew beer, and it honors this with the famous "Harbin Beer", which is exported around the world.

First organized in 1988, today's Harbin International Beer Festival is a nationally recognized event held annually in July. This year's festival features new flavors of beer, interactive events and World Cup related activities. With tables crammed inside huge beer tents, you will easily find copious amounts of beer at this enormous funfair – as well as live music, traditional costumes, and parades, all as part of the celebrations at one of the China's biggest drinking parties.