Now, I've heard of 'shrinkage', but this is ridiculous.
Due to a continued outbreak of chicken pox at the public school, and semester exams at the private, I have been afforded a wonderful extended break (without pay no less). Five weeks of missed classes at the public school and only nine days left for makeups will undoubtedly prove interesting. Therefore, on a whim - yes, I know, I have never been one to make impulsive decisions - I decided late New Year's Day night that I would make a quick trip north to Haerbin, a 9-hour train ride from Beijing…and that's on the high speed train!
I woke up around 4:30am to ensure I had plenty of time to get the train station and buy a ticket. Unfortunately, this proved very difficult because I live in a far corner of the city and finding a taxi that early is next to impossible. My luck finally surfaced when a passerby offered to drop me at the subway station about 20 minutes away. Though they didn't speak any English, I thankfully wasn't kidnapped or left for dead. When I reached the train station finally I was lost when it came to finding where to buy a ticket. It was only after searching a while that I found an open ticket booth; later, I learned from Alex that plane and train tickets are almost exclusively purchased from travel agents and not at the airport/train station. How terribly inconvenient.
Haerbin is way up in the northeast corner of China, in the center of Manchuria between North Korea and Russia. Physically it's proportionate to Richmond but the population sits around 10 million - a small city by Chinese standards. Before I knew it, the train pulled into Haerbin Railway Station shortly before dusk. I was prepared for the cold, but not THAT kind of cold. The temperature on arrival was 2°F, and since my Chinese language skills were next to nothing, I walked the two miles to my hostel located in an old synagogue before heading back out to see the main attraction, the ice and snow festival.
One of the four largest ice festivals in the world, this one quite literally is an amusement park size city made entirely of ice, including replicas of famous landmarks. Colorful lights imbedded in the ice blocks brilliantly lit up the huge ice and snow sculptures scattered throughout the city. It was quite spectacular, and unlike anything I have ever seen before. A live show caught my attention, filled with many actors on skis and dressed in revolutionary guard outfits. I wasn't able to understand the announcer's narration of the story, but could see it had something to do with alpine units fighting the Japanese occupiers/invaders in Manchuria.
The following morning I set out to explore a bit. Haerbin itself is very Russian in architecture, mainly because at one time it was part of Russia. Even today, many Russians come to Haerbin to learn Chinese and do business. During the Russian Revolution, thousands of Jews fleeing Russia eventually settled here, resulting in a large Jewish community complete with synagogues and vibrant neighborhoods. At its height there were over 20,000 jews living here. I went over to the 1 km wide river which had frozen over completely in 4 ft of ice, thick enough for automobiles and hovercraft to glide over. I walked across from one side to the other and back again. On the ice were all sorts of activities including dog sledding, carriage rides, ice slides, and skating.
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