Harbin, or rather Ha’erbin (three syllables not two), was the reason we chose the Trans-Manchurian. It’s a massive city of 10 million people, one of many in China and this city is at least fairly well known internationally. Every year it holds the Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in January/February. We missed that. We are also disappointingly too early for the beer festival in August. Harbin beer is everywhere and cheap, a drinkable lager but not exciting. It averages a 2/5 with beer enthusiasts.
On leaving the station it was boiling, muggy and we were swamped by taxi drivers. After pushing past we realised half the station has been demolished and they’re currently rebuilding – this means dust everywhere. And it wasn’t just the railway station, further in town the metro was being expanded meaning our walking route to the hostel took a bit of a detour and over a not so fun bridge lacking a pavement. We followed the Chinese and did as they did – when in Rome. They are bold when it comes to crossing the road. The cars rarely stop, even when it’s a green light for pedestrians. Seemingly the trick is to walk steadily across and they will go around you, luckily we had practised this in India.
The city itself has clear Russia influence with its many old and yellow european-like buildings. Many of these are run down but have not yet been pulled down by ‘progress’. There were Russian themed shops everywhere selling matroshkas and advertising with Russian writing. We saw few other westerners and of those we did, they spoke Russian. There are several international universities in Harbin so we thought we wouldn’t stand out too much – little did we know…
Sun Island Park
We took a ferry for 2 yuan across the River Songhua which had been contaminated in 2005. The hostel staff told us if they ask for more then refuse. It was a bit of an effort to convince the ticket sellers to give us a 2 yuan ticket, they wanted 10 yuan for a boat tour. After being pointed to different sellers and them radioing each other, with many Chinese stopping and watching us, we finally got them. The river’s edge was teeming with boats. We queued in the first one – wrong one. Second time lucky. We jumped in a small boat which apparently could hold 80 people. Everyone stared at us. Two men were smoking and laughing and one sat next to Mischa and the other took their photo. This is becoming standard. We stand out like a sore thumb in China. A man in an orange jacket looking like he belonged in the Chinese version of top gun sat himself down facing the passengers and the ferry left. It seemed like he was looking just at us for the entire journey.
The ferry dropped us off and we starting thinking about food and drink. The beer garden was closed and the only sit down food place open was KFC. Then we realised we technically weren’t in the park itself, there was an entrance fee for that – 30 RMB each. We had made friends with a man from Malaysia in our hostel who has extensively travelled around china for the last ten years or so. We remembered his heavily accented comment, “the bloody Chinese and their damned entrance fees!” We forked out, enticed by the lure of more cafes and restaurants inside. We only found a small cafe where a meal cost the same as the entrance fee.
I wouldn’t recommend Sun Island Park to visitors, unless you enjoy seeing swans cooped up on Swan Lake, squirrels in a glass room next to Squirrel Island and deer tied with rope to the grass constantly being petted in Deer Park. I didn’t fully realise what it would be like but the names should have given it away. The day before in Zhaolin Park we stumbled across a bird cage full of pigeons with Chinese tourists taking pictures.
The whole park was very fake, there was a manmade waterfall which looked like something out of Minecraft. There was no stream leading to the top of it, just pumps for the water. Perhaps we should have gone to the Botanical Forest Garden instead but it was over an hour away from our hostel by bus. We still hadn’t attempted them at this stage.
Shopping and Food
The decision to stay in Harbin for 5 nights without having anything booked after was well recieved. We spent £10 a night on our own room in a cosy hostel with friendly staff and several cats. It meant we could really relax, find a favourite restaurant, take days slowly, and simply wander the streets without feeling like we were in a rush and wasting time by strolling. Our hostel was just off Zhongyang Street – a pedestrianised area full of fancy and expensive (UK and higher prices) shops and restaurants. Every subway (walking under the road, not metro) is full of shops and they all connect. Entire roads of shops exist under the main roads. It’s a lot of fun and a good way to escape the heat and the traffic. We went in many sports and basketball clothes shops but none stocked CBA (Chinese version of NBA) jerseys, to Mischa’s disappointment. He cheered up after trying a local delicacy – interestingly sliced smoked sausage on a stick.
Later on in Harbin one of the beer sheds was open. The bar at the back sells beer while the stalls down the side sell anything you want – on a stick! The aubergine was the delicious – and the grilled octopus tentacle wasn’t half bad either. We decided not to try the giant millipedes… this time.
Heading out in the nighttime to the busy streets feels like something out of a sci-fi film – so many photo opportunities for Mischa and his fancy camera.
Getting a Chinese SIM card
As there is no offline map app for China that works as well as 2GIS for Russia, it was decided to get a phone number to be able to use internet when on the go. This has since been invaluable. We headed towards China Mobile with a note that had been hand written by the hostel staff. Inside we were pointed upstairs. Lots of people sitting in waiting room style seats with many counters. Absolutely no english. The machine which we assumed gave us a ticket for waiting was indecipherable. I held up the note to the nearest staff member, and was pointed to the back counter. It was in use, we waited. Ten minutes later we sit down and hold up the note again. The man does not speak any English – we get out google translate. He then calls someone and passes his phone to me – I warily say hello and the response is in broken English. I explain and she understands. I assumed she was another employee somewhere but at the end she asks me to pass her back to her husband. A woman then replaces the man and a lot of typing happens, Mischa’s passport is handed over. Eventually we choose our new phone number and pay 50RMB for 2GB of internet and no idea how many minutes or texts. The subsequent months cost 35RMB. So, 45 minutes later – success!
The most important use of having the internet out and about is for Baidu maps. All in Chinese, it’s extremely intuitive if you’re used to Google maps. It contains all the bus routes and metro lines, which Google lacks. It’s perfect for directions, bus numbers and alternative routes, duration times and even walking distances too. Now we can bus ourselves all over China without fear 🙂
What an incredible adventure you’re having and it’s so good writing this much detail. Tim and I always kept diaries of our travels which will be a great comfort for me to read again and re-live those times. ?
Yes I’ve always liked the idea of keeping diaries but I have to admit I’m a little behind on mine at the moment! Need to find some down time to catch up… Keep telling myself I have to do it as it’ll so nice to have and look back on in the future, to remember all the good memories! 🙂
I bet everyone is saying “I didn’t realise that the new Super Girl was a woman named Caroline Lucas?” Or who the devil is she! lol ?
Oh, I might as well comment on your travels too! A lot of things in China are stylisations (not a word, I know) of what they really are, or should I say what the Chinese think they should look like, for example “Thames Town” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Town. So, if a park should have a waterfall, they will have a waterfall!
Keep up the good work!
Oh wow, had no idea, it really does look like Britain! If we get home sick we’ll head there :p It seems to be a different way of presenting public spaces that we’re just not used to and to us it seems fake, to locals it’s not at all or not a problem I guess.
Thanks! 🙂
Only one person has asked me about who she is and it was a British person 🙁 Need to get the message out there!
It is amazing what you manage to achieve in these unfamiliar circumstances; ‘throwing yourselves in at the deep end!’
We’re learning it takes patience and perseverance!