These are some weather observations I've made during my last two weeks here in the Northeast.

First of all, I'm constantly told that this winter is the warmest one anyone can remember. I don't doubt it the slightest, because I've seen melting snow and I've gone without longjohns in HARBIN. Now that's seriously warm, people.
But before those freakishly steaming days, when Andrea and I just arrived in Harbin, it was pretty cold. To Harbiners, that is. To us, it was more like a BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR NEVER EXPERIENCED COLD LIKE THIS BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR GONNA DIE IT'S SO COLD BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR kind of feeling.

Let me illustrate the disparity between Harbiners and the rest of the world.

(Me and Andrea on a freezing bus, during a snow storm day.
Me: two beanies (hats), my down jacket all zipped up, scarf covering my face, gloves, two pairs of warm socks, two pairs of longjohns and three layers of sweaters.
Andrea: one beanie, two knit scarves, down jacket, four layers of sweaters, two pairs of pantyhose and one pair of wool longjohns, seven pairs of socks, two pairs of gloves.)
We're both pretty cold. I can't feel my fingers, the soles of my feet hurt and Andrea isn't doing much better.
Old Harbiner next to us, in an unzipped down jacket, no gloves, no hat, no scarf, looking at us and chuckling.
Harbiner: "You two are from down South, aren't you?"
Me (realizing I can't claim to be from Harbin when in Harbin, because I can't take the cold like a real Harbiner): "Yeah, we're from Beijing. How could you tell?"
Harbiner: "You're way overdressed."

This was in -16ish C, with howling Siberian winds and heavy snow. Trust me, you haven't experienced cold until you experience Siberian winds. It's hard to adequately describe the feeling: the closest I get is the air in a freezer suddenly blowing right through you. You can't even breathe cuz it hurts.
Later, on the same bus, we saw a man in his 50s jump onboard in summer sneakers, sweatpants and a thin fall jacket, completely unperturbed. The jacket wasn't zipped up either.

It may sound completely trivial, but to me these differences are fascinating. The first day, when my cousin took me and Andrea sightseeing, we were bundled up in the manner described above, while he wore a light down jacket, no scarf, no hat and no gloves. We were about to die from the cold. No kidding. I bought those beanies in the first store we saw, not caring about price, not caring about style, my only concern being staying alive through the rest of the day. And he's just a typical Harbiner - hardly anyone wears gloves, scarves or hats here, especially not older people. It's quite the disconcerting feeling to trudge along like a bundled-up balloon, only to see a sexagenarian walk past you in a an unzipped fall jacket.

(and yes, I've been terribly remiss in posting. It sounds so lame, but I've seriously been too busy to post. I'll try to do my best to give you a description of the New Years celebrations at least.)