Longqing's an ice spectacle to rival Harbin

On arriving in Beijing in August 2001, I was so desperate to cram everything in that by winter I had been to most of Beijing's famous sites, and many in the surrounding districts.

I planned to go to the Longqing Gorge Ice Festival in Yanqing county, but it wasn't a major listing and in an entire decade I never quite managed it. The godfather of ice festivals, Harbin in Heilongjiang province, was much higher up on my agenda and I have yet to realize that trip.

This year marked the 25th Longqing spectacle, and one day during the Spring Festival, my friend and our two children found ourselves on Bus 919 from Deshengmen to Yanqing, home of the ice sculpture massif.