Harbin-The Arrival

In my quest to see as much of China during my year abroad I decided to visit Harbin during the first part of the Chinese New Year.  Why Harbin?  Well, it is world famous for its Snow and Ice Festival where artists create grand sculptures and palaces out of snow and ice...and light them up with a different array of colors at night.  It is also renowned for having the largest collection of Siberian Tigers, for brewing Harbin Beer and of course...for its freezing cold Siberian winters.  As such I spent my time leading up to the trip preparing the best I could by bartering for a pair of boots (in as much as you can call them boots...they are 'Timberland' boots...but I figure I can wear these after my trip to Harbin as well...so I'm going with it), more gloves, scarves, hats and better socks.

Photo courtesy of Gary Olson...This is Zhaolan Park at night :-0

I was a little worried about traveling on Monday the first day of the Chinese Spring Festival...but at least getting a taxi to the airport was easy and quick.  The flight went off without a hitch and before I knew it I had landed in Harbin.  I had previously made the decision to try to find my way to my hotel without using a taxi from the airport because that would cost about 140 RMB (with an honest driver)...so figuring out this bus system shouldn't be a problem right?  I've done this sort of thing before in Xi'An and there was an info desk and they helped us find our bus right away...no problem.  Not such luck this time.  Turns out...I'm pretty sure I was the only English speaker in that airport...no info desk...no signs (in English)...and certainly not enough functional Chinese to accomplish this task...or maybe not?

I went outside where I thought the buses might be and BAMMMM!!!  That was not the sound of me being smacked by a bus (thankfully) but rather the sound of the Harbin freezing cold temperatures hitting me.  I've experienced cold before...but this...this was no joke.  I quickly surveyed the situation and realized the other Chinese were in a similar state of shock...and the cold was causing them to proceed with even less order then before (I never knew this was possible).  So in a mad frenzy of Chinese people flying in and around me...bumping, shoving and cutting in line...I bought a bus ticket.  I know I spent 20 RMB...I managed a simple statement that I 'hope' conveyed to the lady which general direction I was going and here I was staring at a ticket written completely in Chinese characters.  Which bus to take?  I ask the lady and she points at the place where all the buses are leaving and yells...Nega Nega (that one).  O.k...so we've narrowed it down to four.

I follow the wave of people and step onto the first bus.  The man takes my ticket crumples it and motions me in.  I try to quickly show him the address of where I'm going and he glances and says something which I think means...o.k.??  So I sit down apprehensively...and eventually we take off.  I survey the bus to see if anyone speaks English because even if I'm on the right bus...I have no idea which stop to get off and they are only making announcements in Chinese.  Nope...no English speakers. O.k.  well the bus keeps going and I see we are headed toward the town of Harbin...so that is good...right direction.  Then the bus stops and people get off.  Then it stops again and more people get off.  I have no idea why I stay on the bus but I do.

Finally I look up the word for train station because I think that is close to where I need to go.  I show the character to some people sitting around me and they don't know where it is at...they are not from Harbin.  Of course not...nobody on this bus is.  They are all Chinese Nationals just visiting for the Holiday...and probably going to the same festival as me.  Well...I figure I'll be able to spot a train station right?  We keep making stops...keep making stops...finally...there's almost nobody left on the bus and I ask the bus driver again and this time he says something in Chinese which I understand...one more stop.  O.k. Sweet.  I get off...and good thing I asked because this has no signs of being a train station...lol.

But at this point I can grab a taxi and show him the address (useful hint when traveling in China...use your phone to take a photo of the characters that describe the address where you want to go...this way you can just show them the characters).  I get in the taxi and he looks at the address and says he knows where it is.  But after about 5 minutes I here him saying to himself in Chinese (and he clearly thinks I don't speak any Chinese at this point...which I practically don't) 'Where is Yanyuan Inn?'.  He repeats it to himself again.  AHHH...he is lost!  He doesn't know where it is either.  He eventually gets on the phone and calls a friend and thankfully I arrive at the hotel.  Phew!!  That was a scary experience for me...not one that I like to do often because I really didn't know where I was going and was just guessing for the most part...but made it safely from airport to hotel front door for a total of just 30 RMB...so a total savings of about 100 RMB...I can dig that.  (Note:  This town is SUPER expensive in terms of admission fees so I'm trying to save money on transportation the best I can).

I go inside the hotel and wait a couple of minutes while they check in the guests in front of me.  Now the reason I chose this hotel is because it was listed as a 'Western Hotel'.  What this means is that they are certifying that they have staff who can assist you in English.  Usually it also means they have little cards or directions for taxi drivers to help you get to local attractions.  However...it quickly became apparent that this hotel was labeling itself as a Western Hotel simply to make some extra cash.  None of the staff even knew 'Hello' (which all Chinese know).  So...right away I realize...this town could be quite a challenge.  While my Chinese is very functional...there are certain things that are really hard without an English speaker...and I guess we will discover all of those.

The check-in process was rather lengthy because I needed to ask a few questions (like why are you charging me 1000 RMB instead of the 650 that I reserved it for)...but I've become better with my Chinese/English dictionary too...so thankfully...I was all checked in.  Phew!  After unpacking I threw on some more winter clothes (yep...what I wore to the Beijing Airport was certainly not enough) and headed out to find some dinner.

Now when traveling in China I love to try out the local cuisines and take in new restaurants.  That is one of the most enjoyable things about traveling for me.  Whether it be a nice sit down restaurant or street food from the vendors...it doesn't really matter...I love to try it all and experience that town/province's local flair.  As I began walking down the street (a street in which the reviews said had a plethora of amazing restaurants) I realized two things:  A)  Walking at night in Harbin could very well kill me!  Any exposed skin immediately hurts because of the cold and within about a minute I realize my legs are killing me (i.e. jeans are NOT enough)...my toes are freezing (better wear two pairs of socks next time)...and I really could throw on a third jacket underneath the other two...and B)  There are almost NO restaurants open.

Meaning as it was the first day of the Spring Festival I'm assuming many of the restaurants closed.  The others that were open I went in and they all told me in Chinese 'no tables for one'...or 'no eating by yourself here'.  What!  Come on!  I get it...they were probably doing some 'special' for families...because everyone gets together with their family during Spring Festival...but where does that leave my growling stomach?  Well after walking around for far too long in the bitter cold I realize that my two choices for now are KFC or McDonalds.  More as a response to its proximity to my frozen toes...I chose McDonalds.  The thing I do like about KFC and McDonalds is that they make it really easy for foreigners to order...they have picture menus that they bring out and you just point to whatever item you want.  But wait...what!  Not in Harbin.  No pictures...ahh!  O.k. that's o.k...I'm pretty functional with food language...but how do you say 'Big Mac'...never mind...I surprise myself by ordering what I want with no problems whatsoever and even ask for Fa piau (weird Chinese receipt thing that is kind of like a tax ride-off but is also kind of like playing a slot machine...I didn't win this time...lol).

After dinner I realize nothing is going to be open so I head back to the hotel noting some of the beautiful streets and Russian influenced architecture.  I do find a small convenience store/gas station open and head in to buy a couple bottles of water and a couple bottles of pigio to celebrate the New Year.  I get back to my room and realize I have no bottle opener...so water it is.  The fireworks start to go off and remind me it is time to sleep as I will have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.

Zaijian and Wan an (goodnight)
Gary