Post the Third: Harbin!!!

"Harbin (simplified Chinese: 哈尔滨) is the capital and largest city in Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...Harbin is originally a Manchu word meaning 'a place for drying fishing nets.'"
~ Wikipedia, keyword: Harbin

After arriving in Harbin via soft-sleeper train (see LUXURIOUS), I immediately noticed three things:

• BLUE SKIES: Harbin, unlike other major Chinese cities, hasn't yet managed to choke itself in layers of smog. As a result, the sky is still visible. Success. 

City roundabout, downtown Harbin

• Kendeji/肯德基: Upon exiting the train station, there are two KFC's approximately 200 yards from each other. We are far from Beijing, but not that far. I do want to know what's on the menu.

KFC, downtown Harbin. Notice it resides in a government-protected traditional style Russian building (it's the building, not the KFC, that's protected). I am unsure how I feel about this.

• Russian style buildings and "Russian style buildings": As the city was originally built by Russians, Harbin to this day boasts Russian-inspired architecture as well as other European styles that followed European settlers into the city. Some of the buildings date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries and are masterpieces of classical Russian building styles with brightly colored walls and domes. Other buildings date back about three or four years and are masterpieces of the Chinese ability to include tradition on even the most characterless modern buildings. In large cities like Beijing and Shanghai, it's not uncommon to see huge skyscrapers made entirely out of glass and steel with a traditional Chinese roof on top - it's almost as though these monoliths are wearing Chinese "hats." In Harbin, though, the original European influences still seem to dominate.

Most yellow buildings like the one pictured above have are traditional Russian/European style. The building in the background is wearing a hat!

The CET program has kept us busy for the past couple days since classes start on Monday. So far we've poked around the campus and surrounding area, toured the more central downtown area, taken placement exams (oral and written), and struggled with varying degrees of success to triumph over jet-lag. Tonight we officially meet our Chinese roommates (SO EXCITED!!!) and enjoy one last night of being able to converse freely amongst ourselves before the language pledge starts tomorrow afternoon and nobody is able to say anything to anyone. 哎呀.

Thoughts so far:

• The feeling here in this city is unique. It's a super-huge metropolis but there are local alleyways and restaurants that people go to time after time. Hoards of modern skyscrapers form an impressive skyline while small parks still draw hundreds of Chinese people for taijiquan in the morning and dancing late at night. Development is well underway (new subway lines, new businesses, etc), yet the city still isn't international. It's authentically Chinese. It's slightly uncomfortable and weird and I like it. Frankly, it's an adventure.
• Adventures aside, Harbin NEEDS to get some traffic lights ASAP. I used to think Beijing traffic was bad. There are literally NO rules here. If there is a flat surface, a car will drive on it. If it has people on it, those people can be made flat.
• Dongbei food is goooood. Dongbei coffee is not.
• Harbin people appear rather unfriendly. They actually love to talk to foreigners. They really want to know why I've come all the way from my 美国 (USA) to a city like Harbin. They don't even care that I keep butchering their mother tongue.

All in all, Harbin has come pretty far from its fishing net past.

Oh, you know, just some pro-subway propaganda.

Signing off,
魏德