Harbin didn’t feel like it was far from Chita but the cities could hardly be more different (2024: it’s more than 1000km….I was getting very blase about long distances!). The quiet streets of Chita are only interrupted by the sound of a dusty, soviet era van puffing up the hill. In Harbin by contrast, the shiny German cars sit nose-to-tail in a 6 lane traffic jam next to the KFC.
I arrived at midday after a leisurely morning on the train. I said goodbye to my traveling companions who were all going straight through to Beijing and I set foot on Chinese soil for the first time. It was exciting having spent a year studying Chinese to finally be here!
I found a nice looking cafe with wifi and had my first experience of how bad the Internet is in china. Most apps I relied on in Russia are banned here such as Google translate and Google maps. Thankfully I’m prepared and have a maps app that will work offline (OsmAnd) and the best chinese dictionary app (Pleco)
It’s Friday night so I’m heading to the main street which is a sort of museum of European architectural styles. The souvenir shops are all selling russian dolls. This is because of Harbin’s connection to the transsiberian railway. In the past, the railway to Vladivostok went through China. Bringing hoards of russians to the sleepy fishing village of Harbin turning it into a major hub. Nowadays, the original train line stops at Harbin and goes no further east. The transsiberian skirts china to the North adding 400km to the route. The official transmanchurian route continues on a branch to Beijing.
There is some sort of festival happening on the main street, with a parade and a lot of musicians. I wasn’t expecting to see a brass band here! (although it does include saxophones… ) There were women dancing in carnival style dresses. A mother in the crowd turns to her young boy and says in Chinese “look, there’s an American”, I interrupt her in Chinese “I’m not an American, I’m from England”. I felt proud of myself for being able to use my Chinese.
My first impression of China? Not great, but I did find some consolation off the main street where people are selling all sorts of fragrant street food. This is a huge cultural difference between Russia and the rest of East Asia. Some of the cuisine is familiar from my time in Taiwan, others are not and some look downright disgusting like insects and scorpions….
(2024: I think I stayed in Harbin 2 nights before continuing on to Shenyang. I was excited to be in China for the first time but in retrospective Harbin isn’t a particularly nice city)
Eastward Ho! 