China Guide
Dongbei
Along the Songhua River
The riverbank area is a worthwhile district to explore, starting from the Flood Control Monument at the bottom of Zhongyang Dajie. Built in 1958, the monument commemorates the many thousands who have died in the Songhua floods, and has been updated to mark the horrible floods in the summers of 1989 and 1998. The square here is a popular hangout for local people, who gather to feed pigeons and fly kites, as is Stalin Park, a strip of land along the east bank of the river that's particularly lively on weekends. People come to what must be China's last public memorial to Stalin in order to wash their clothes, meet and chat, even bathe in the river – the last is not a good idea, as mercury levels in the water are so high that fish can no longer survive in it. Others cluster around palm-readers and storytellers who relate old Chinese folk legends. Just southeast of the monument, Zhaolin Park, unremarkable in summer, is host to the spectacular winter Ice Festival.
In winter, the Songhua River freezes solid and you can take a horse carriage, rent a go-kart or walk across – the ice is so thick it will support a fully loaded bus or lorry and gets used as a road.