Harbin is famous in China for its cold winter. There are lots of places of interests in Harbin for snow and ski related activities. The Ice Cavings in Harbin attracts millions of travelers to Harbin and the Yabuli Ski Resort is one of the best in Asia. Harbin is also home to quite a large Muslim populations. Among all mosques in Harbin, the Daowai Mosque is the most famous mosque in Harbin. The best time to visit Harbin is winter when the temperature in Harbin might be minus 20 -30 degree centigrade. IslamiChina has summarized the following Harbin Muslim travel tips to our Muslim brothers and sisters to travel Harbin during a short period of time.
Tour Itinerary Planning
For Muslim Business Travelers
If you are in Harbin for a business trip and you have one day free to travel around Harbin, you may visit Harbin’s Ice & Snow World and then ski at Erlongshan Ski Resort. You may join local Muslims at Harbin Daowai Mosque for Salat prayers.
For Muslim leisure travelers
The best time to visit Harbin is winter. It can be extremely cold in Harbin, therefore, you need to pack warm clothing for your Harbin vacation. One of the best Ski Resort in Asia is in Harbin, named Yabuli Ski Resort. Yabuli is located over 100 km away from Harbin, there are hotels inside the resort. You may plan to stay at the Ski Resort for a few days just skiing.
Accommodations
There is no Muslim hotel in Harbin, you may choose to stay at international brand name hotels such as Sheraton, Hilton, Holiday Inns and dine at local Halal restaurants in Harbin.
Halal Restaurants in Harbin
The easiest way to find a Halal restaurant in China is to look for local mosque. Mosque is always located in the center of a Muslim community, no doubt, Halal restaurants can be found around Mosque serving local Halal food. In Harbin, Halal restaurants are also located in other part of the city serving Southeast Asian Cuisine, local Harbin Halal cuisine and Xinjiang Uyghur Cuisine, Lanzhou Beef Noodles can be found in many parts of Harbin.
Mosques in Harbin
Harbin East Mosque (now called Daowai Mosque), Harbin West Mosque, Harbin Guxiang Mosque, Taiping Mosques were constructed since then. By the year 1990, there were seven ethnic groups in Harbin who believed in Islam and the Muslim population in Harbin reached 34664. By 2002, there were eight ethnic groups in Harbin who believed in Islam and the Muslim population reached 40420. Currently there are 20 mosques in Harbin.
Money Exchange
You can exchange traveler's checks or cash at most banks, and most 5-star and 4-star hotels always have a money exchange counter. You can also get a cash advance on your credit card on ATM machine. The exchange rate all over China are the same fixed by Bank of China. To change money, you have to have your passport at hand. If you want to change money in a hotel, you usually have to be a guest there. Sometimes if you are not a guest in a hotel but need to change money there, you can just say a random room number, but this doesn't always work. Remember to keep the exchange slip well because you need this slip to change the Chinese Yuan back to your currency if you do have this need at the end of the tour. At present, the RMB is not exchangeable on the International market, so it is only usable within the country. So when you are changing money, don't change too much, because it is difficult to change back into other currencies. To change RMB back into your home currency, you must retain the exchange slips that are given to you at the bank or money exchange counter.