While fastidiously reading through my Lonely Planet Travel book on China, I soon came across a section dedicated to the little-explored far northeast. Amongst this barren frozen wasteland, its crowning jewel is the city of Harbin. Known as the Ice City, Harbin has also gained international recognition as the host of the yearly Snow and Ice Festival, a place which produces some of the world’s largest ice sculptures. The city was also home to a Japanese chemical weapon laboratory during the height of the war. Yet, that isn’t what has brought the city such notoriety. Harbin is also home to the Siberian Tiger Park, a place where the breeding and…