While covering the Asian Winter Games, Kazakh journalist Aruzhan Marzhikpayeva traded her microphone for a cultural deep dive in Harbin – and what she found was pure magic ✨. The Qazsport reporter ventured beyond the ice rinks to discover a city where onion-domed churches stand beside traditional tea houses, creating a vibe she calls “East meets West on steroids.”
🔍 “It’s like walking through a real-life Pinterest board,” Marzhikpayeva told CGTN’s Wan Hongjia while snapping selfies at Harbin’s iconic Saint Sophia Cathedral. The 120-year-old Byzantine-style landmark now hosts calligraphy exhibitions – a mashup that’s got Gen Z travelers adding #HarbinHues to their bucket lists.
❄️ Between filing sports reports, the journalist squeezed in late-night food crawls through Central Street. Her verdict on the local specialty? “Ice cream tastes better when it’s -20°C outside – fight me!” 🍦
This cultural collision isn’t just Insta-worthy – experts say Harbin’s unique positioning as China’s “ice city” makes it a testing ground for global cultural fusion. With the Winter Games bringing 3,000+ athletes from 45 countries and regions, that mixology is getting an international twist 🇨🇳🌐.
