Check out this video of people plunging into polar waters at the beginning of the annual Harbin ice festival (thanks to folks at Shanghaiist.com blog). Harbin is China’s northernmost major city, and every year around this time they have an ice and snow sculpture competition. It draws large crowds but I have yet to attend. Here’s more about the festival from the chinatravel.net website: The focal point of the festival is Zhaolin Park, located next to the Songhua River. During the festival

Weight Loss as a New Year’s Resolution by Amy Nutt It seems almost cliche to make a New Year’s resolution that has the words “weight loss” in it. As soon as New Year’s Day has passed, individuals start buying the gym memberships, treadmills, and other exercise equipment. However by the end of the year, the membership card is nowhere to be found and all of the exercise equipment has about two inches of dust on it. Many times, the weight loss New Year’s resolution doesn’t make it past Valentine’

Weight Loss as a New Year’s Resolution by Amy Nutt It seems almost cliche to make a New Year’s resolution that has the words “weight loss” in it. As soon as New Year’s Day has passed, individuals start buying the gym memberships, treadmills, and other exercise equipment. However by the end of the year, the membership card is nowhere to be found and all of the exercise equipment has about two inches of dust on it. Many times, the weight loss New Year’s resolution doesn’t make it past Valentine’