It had been remarkably light in our hotel room, to the extent that Liam could actually read! However I still fell to sleep pretty quickly so when the alarm went off at 4am I was fine to get up and get dressed. We checked out and managed to get a taxi straight away. We arrived at the airport (we'd bought tickets in Beijing with the help of Bobby from the Templeside) and soon we were on our flight with OK Air! airlines. I must say the name, in particular the exclamation mark, didn't inspire much confidence in the reliability of the company, but as if by a miracle, we got off the ground. The meal on the plane was breakfast so it was pickled radish, cold baozi stuffed with beancurd, and a weirdy doughy tube thing. We didn't eat much.
When we arrived in Harbin it was still only 9am-ish. We got a shuttle bus to the train station as it seemed like a pretty central place to go from, and then got a taxi to our hotel. We were naturally pestered by all the taxi drivers, but in Russian this time, which was different. But equally annoying. Once we'd checked in to our huge, high-ceilinged room, we saw it was only 9.45am and started our day in Harbin!
First stop was the train station again, to buy tickets for the next leg. We had wanted to dump our bags and get sorted before having to tackle a Chinese public transport ticket hall. We caught a bus directly to the station, where we bought tickets to Changchun for the following morning. Next we wanted to go to Central Street (Zhongyang Dajie) to see the Russian architecture and start our Harbin tourism. At the first bus stop we tried, a woman directed us to the stop across the road. Getting across the road was harder than expected; we ended up back at the train station before figuring it out! At this next bus stop, we were approached again and finally a girl told us she'd take us to Central Street as she was heading that way and we got on the bus with her. I had my suspicions as to what she was doing, thinking she'd be wanting some money out of us, but she did seem to just be going that way so we allowed it. Soon we were off the bus and at Central Street. The girl said something to which I nodded and said okay, more on reflex than anything else. She either said "I'm going to go now, is that okay?" or "Let's go round together, is that okay?" Big difference, really. Either way she set off up the road, albeit slowly, and we awkwardly went in the same direction. We actually had our own plan, firstly to eat Russian food. We got the guidebook out to check the address of the restaurant we wanted, thinking we'd shaken the girl off, but on glancing back and seeing us stop and get out the book, she came right back and took us right to the door of the restaurant. We'd already found it ourselves, but we thought maybe she was just being nice. In the restaurant the waitress asked how many people and the girl said three! But they seated us as two anyway. The girl watched over us as we looked through the menu and pointed at chips - perhaps on the stereotypical and common assumption that that is all Westerners eat, or perhaps asking us to order some for her! Dunno. She wasn't the most communicative of girls and had said practically nothing to us since we got on the bus, so we weren't too overjoyed to have her as an uninvited dinner partner. So imagine our annoyance when we realised she was waiting throughout our entire meal, standing over us like an unwelcome shadow. We didn't really know what the craic was with her so we just left her to it, but then started to wonder how the hell we'd get rid of her without breaking down our British inbuilt politeness. However, as we hung about at the end of the meal, she either got tired of waiting or got the point that we weren't actually trying to make, and left. Thank the Lord.
The meal was great. I adore Russian food. We know a good Russian restaurant here in Urumqi and it's one of my favourite places to eat, though it's a bit pricey. We had chicken salad, meat fillet, roasted potatoes in cream and bread, jam and butter. We also ordered tea but apparently they had no hot water (?!) so I got come kvas (honey beer). Anyway the reason we were hanging about at the end was because we thought the meat fillet was the chicken to go in the salad! As it turned out, it was just a not very good chicken salad, and the meat fillet was in fact chicken fillet. No harm done because we ate the chicken and salad together and it was wonderful, though nothing compared to the heaven of the potatoes, especially with the crusty farm bread. At the end of the meal we were still waiting on our fillet, so the girl left.
We realised, paid, and left, keeping a close eye-out for the girl, but we never saw her again. We strolled up and down the street, which was dotted with ice sculptures, taking in all the architecture and the Russian vibe. Harbin is noted throughout China for being especially Russian; the city was revived by Russian trade in the first place and as it's so close to the border remains a very non-Chinese place. There were a lot of white people everywhere - there had been a few in Tianjin, and at Tianjin airport two rather obese British girls got on our flight (what a way to remind us of the state of British people these days) - and a lot of them, but not all, were Russian. We knew that the city was better after nightfall, for the ice sculptures and the Church of St Sophia to look truly beautiful all lit up. However we knew that the snow sculptures were fine by daylight so we started to make our way up to top of Central Street, where we could cross the river to get to Sun Island Park, where all the snow sculptures are. We didn't get as far as Sun Island Park (yet!) because when we reached the Songhua River, which was completely frozen through, we spotted the world of fun which we just had to experience first!
The Songhua River had been turned into what looked like a winter amusement park. First we paid 10 kuai to go down an ice slide on a metal sled. I got The Fear (tm) a bit before we went down as from the top it suddenly looked a lot steeper and I had never done this before, but had no time to deal with that before I was kicked down at top speed. I got hardcore panic halfway down at a million miles per hour when I realised I didn't know how to stop the damn thing, and I was going to crash and die. I was getting quite the adrenaline rush but the moment the surface changed to snow instead of smooth ice the sled stopped by itself. I turned round to see Liam hurtling towards me all excited looking just like Noddy : )
After the slide, which made us so so happy, we decided to try out these little things which are like seats on sleds with poles which you use to push yourself around on. We paid 50 yuan each as deposit and then went on them for like 10 minutes. It would have been good fun but I just couldn't feel my fingers for the cold and it was starting to get seriously painful. We took the sleds back to the stall, to get there climbing what at first looked like a tiny bump but may as well have been Everest considering the effort it took to get up it on those sled seats. I actually slid right back down and crashed into some angry woman's glove stall, much to her chagrin and Liam's amusement. I finally made it over the bump to the stall and asked for our deposit back. He wouldn't give us any money! We explained we'd each given 50 kuai deposit. To pay the deposit we'd come up to the stall and asked a man how much. He may as well have been the village idiot for all the sensible response we got out of him. We turned to the next man (the man we went back to to get our deposits back) and asked how much, and finally got the answer of 50 kuai. We were a bit annoyed by this and said "if it's 50 yuan deposit why don't you just say 50 yuan??? Can't you speak Chinese?!" etc. Ordinarily we just put up them going seemingly mute around us as it often happens, probably assuming that we can't speak Chinese and thus trying to communicate via telepathy, which everyone knows is an easier method. Anyway they laughed in what seemed like good humour and took our deposit money. But now they were refusing to hand back the damn deposit. He just shrugged. Then someone came up and said how much? He said 20 yuan. We said, why is his 20 and our's 50 huh? We convinced him to give us 10 back. To share between us. We needed 30 each! I held my hand out for more. He gave me another 10. So it was down to 40 each that we'd paid now. I said give us our money, you still owe us 40 kuai. Liam said, that guy was told it's 20, what is it like 20 for Chinese, 40 for foreigners? Unfortunately the maddening man liked this phrase and started to proclaim it to everyone around us like it was a selling technique! And several people laughed. That's when I lost it. I am so fed up of being ripped off because I've got white skin. I'm not flipping made of money because I have less melanin, for God's sake! Don't people here realise that if they treat us all like this then China will get a bad rap, less people will want to come and spend their money, and finally it'll be bad for business? Being fair means being prosperous. Plus with the Beijing Olympics coming up, the Chinese authorities really need to tell their citizens how to deal with us, because when we're here en masse it'll be make or break for them.
Anyway. I shouted. He still refused. I asked Liam what he thought we should do; he seemed pissed off but resigned. I almost left but another wave of rage hit me and I stayed to fight on. He gave me another two tens. I told him he still owed us money and I got so annoyed I tried to take it off the table, but he hit my hand away. I haven't been that angry in a long time. I was making quite the scene. Eventually I took the money again and this time when he tried to stop me it was me that batted his hand away. He looked seriously affronted but then shrugged and said fine, and off I stalked, victorious.
I rather ruined the effect mere seconds later, when everyone was still watching the angry laowai intently, by falling smack onto my arse on the ice. So elegant. I could hear everyone laughing at me but fortunately I too thought it was absolute hilarious, in particular the godawful timing, and also because I was completely unable to get myself back up due the slippiness of the ice. Laughing hysterically, I had to call Liam over to help me up! Still, it broke the tension a bit and I was ready to have more fun! Though the spectactors must have thought I was an absolute lunatic, swinging wildly from extreme anger to maniacal laughter.
I stopped and bought some huge ski gloves from a much nicer gentleman, to help with the pain in my fingers. Next we came across the most AMAZING slide. 30 kuai for 30 minutes, rubber tyre dinghies on an ice slide with bumps carved into it for maximum bounce. You go down and when you come over the bumps you fly right into the air. Then at the end you run back up snow-covered ice steps and off you go again for half an hour. Pure unadulterated fun. We named our dinghies Ermengarde and Bjorn for no especial reason other than because we could. At the top of one part of the slide men were kicking people down so they'd be even speedier, and generally to keep the cycle moving round because there were a lot of ditherers. The first time I went down and they kicked me unexpectedly I couldn't help but scream! Most unlike me; in theme parks I go pretty mute! We tried right across the breadth of the ice slide, which was split into two halves. Though there were no differences in the actual slidey bit, the men on the left-hand side were pretty half-hearted with the kicking, so we stuck to the right side, where we found the Balaclava Man. He was a vicious thug who clearly enjoyed the violent, kicking part of his job just that bit too much, but other than that he was absolutely lovely and we made instant friends! He was so very generous with his kicks, and so we hurtled down the slides at unheard-of speeds! Liam overheard a woman comment to him that it wasn't very safe, and he replied "well, if it's safe, then it's not fun, is it?" or words to that effect. My sentiment exactly. When he realised he was my favourite kicker he became even more generous and then spun me round as well. I have never screamed so hard! When I got back up the steps a few of the kickers laughed with me about my girly screaming, then asked if I liked being spun... stupid question, boys! So from then on, I got spun. And kept squealing, because I knew that they'd keep trying to out-do themselves. On what should've been our last go before time was up another man asked if he could try spinning me. But he spinned my body, not my dinghy, so it was a bit poo and I forgot to scream. So we had to have a final go with the Balaclava Man, before having my photo taken with him. Lovely chap.
Next we got a cable car to Sun Island Park, where the snow sculptures were. The cable car gave us great views over Harbin and the river, where we could see cars rallying on the frozen surface. You have to be really confident of the thickness of the ice to race cars on it! We bought our expensive tickets into the park and looked around at all the sculptures, as the sun began to set, which made it so beautiful. Some of them very huge and they were all magnificentally carved. I don't know how one gets into that kind of artisanry, but boy do they know what they're doing! They even had a cafe (Moulin Rouge haha) and a hotel made completely out of snow. It was damn freezing so we dashed about. On our way out we came across a couple of people advertising a free bus to the Ice World, which was a bit of luck, because they sold us our tickets into the world on the bus, and then when we got there we skipped the long long queue to get in straight away. Good stuff. The queues were so long that we thought it'd be hardly worth it to wait in them that long, but once we got inside we realised that it was totally worth it, because the ice sculptures were incredible, even more breathtaking than the snow, and much better in real life than any photo could do justice. They were lit up right inside the ice by multicoloured lights and were absolutely huge. They had representations of the Great Wall, Westminter Abbey, and The Acropolis which afforded excellent views over the whole park, because you could walk up the steps like the real thing. Once we were done with the ice the next stop was St Sophia's, an old Russian church. We started walking to it, as it was said to be just down the road. We crossed a bridge over the river and nearly froze to death. No flagging taxis on the bridge, so once we were halfway over, we had to keep going! One thing I should say about Harbin is about the weather there. It is the coldest city in China. They have recorded temperatures there of nearly minus 50, which was exceptional, but it regularly reaches minus 30. The actual temperature in Urumqi is not much different, but it is a 'still' kind of cold, whereas in Harbin the wind picks up and suddenly it feels much colder. Every time you tell a Chinese person you're going to Harbin they look at you like you're mad and ask you why. But Harbin's real attraction is winter - this is when the sculptors come out, when everything gets spectacularly beautiful, and is really the only time of year to visit Harbin. We were quite scared of the cold actually but I wasn't that impressed by it until the sun set and the wind kicked in. When walking on the bridge, exposed to the elements, my scarf froze. Now living in China in the winter, you get pretty used to your scarf freezing, and your hair freezing a little from time to time too, if you're ever stupid enough to let it get wet and then go outside. But on that bridge, our scarves were like concrete, you could actually crack them. Crazy.
Anyway it turned out St Sophia's is down the road from an entire different, much less spectacular ice sculpture park. The church was very ornate and pretty and I was annoyed that my camera ran out of batteries so we went to find some. Eventually I got some in a very seedy pharmacy, and then took some snaps, though the light quality was very poor. Frozen through and fed up of the tourism lark, we went to KFC. I went to the bathroom here and looked in the mirror and it was here that I realised the vicious wind and arctic cold had actually burnt my skin to the colour of a ripe tomato. Sore.
We got a taxi back to the hostel but he dropped us off at the wrong place so we had to trek back through the cold. Made it alive though! Having seen and done all we had come for, we thawed off by going straight to bed as soon as we could!
Rather a lot of photos now (Harbin is quite the photogenic city!):
East meets West(ish): Chinese lanterns (the quantity apparently denotes how good a restaurant is) on Russian architecture.
Could be Moscow! The buildings down the street are all Russian in style, and there's ice sculptures dotted along the path.
The land of ice and fun on thr Songhua River.
My first ice slide. With sleds poised and ready to go.
I am not sure if this is an expression of pure joy or pure agony. You decide.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! The dinghy slide. I love that I managed to capture someone going over the bump up in the air! So much fun, I recommend this to anyone that gets the chance!
I <3 The Balaclava Man
The view of car rallying on the Songhua River, taken from the cable car.
The view of Sun Island Park from the cable car - you can see the sheer size of the snow sculptures in this picture.
Tiananmen Square, made entirely of snow!
Napoleon! Look at the skill it must have taken to make that!
I think this was supposed to be Greek or Roman or something, but it just reminded me of back home in Xinjiang! Grapes-amundo!
The biggest ice sculpture in the place - I couldn't fit it all into one photo. To get a good idea of the size, in the photo on the left, towards the right there is a person standing quite near to the sculpture. But he was not standing that close, so in perspective he looks rather large. This sculpture was breath-takingly huge.
Westminster Abbey as you've never seen it before.
The Acropolis.
Harbin Ice World, as viewed from the top of the steps of The Acropolis
View of the entire Ice World from the Songhua River. I don't know why but I really like this photo!
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