Harbin

My final trip in China before heading home to America was to Harbin. It is the capital of Heilongjiang, the northernmost and easternmost province in China. Harbin is the biggest city in northern China. Despite its harsh winters (average temperatures around -40), Harbin's main tourist season is during the cold months. The City's International Snow and Ice festival is world famous for its monolithic ice structures and sculptures.

RUSSIAN AND JEWISH HERITAGE

Harbin was founded as a depot on the Chinese Eastern Railway. The railway was financed by the Russian Empire as a shortcut on the Siberian Railway to Vladivostok and Port Arthur. Harbin's early history is closely tied to Russia and the railway. The city was majority Russian until the Japanese invasion during WWII. It also had the largest Jewish population in east Asia, reaching a height of 20,000.

The hostel I said in was originally Harbin's first Jewish Synagogue

Russian doll bushes

The Russian Orthodox St Sophia church

The largest Jewish Synagogue is now a museum of Jewish heritage

Left, original buildings of the old russian quarter. Right, modern imitations of the buildings in the old russian quarter

The old russian quarter is in disrepair

'Chinese Baroque Style' new construction

MODERN HARBIN

Given its background, Harbin is unique among Chinese cities. It still has close ties to Russia. Most signs in Harbin are in Chinese and Russian. Most foreigners in Harbin are Russian, however the local population is now entirely Chinese. Its hard to find souvenirs in Harbin unless you're looking for chinese imitation russian goods (they're everywhere).

Harbin is a city that loves winter. Locals still enjoy summer because of the beer festivals and ubiquitous ice cream stalls. The day I arrived in Harbin there was a parade along the main pedestrian street to celebrate Harbin summer and beer.

The best dumplings I've had in China. Period.

Many sidestreets along the main pedestrian mall are converted into open air beer halls

Locals swimming in the Sounghua River

A pleasant stroll in Stalin Park

Harbin Beer parade. Yes those are Russians driving those beer wagons

Who better to lead the beer parade than the characters of Disney movies?

Captain Jack Sparrow

Casks of Harbin Beer, China's other famous beer

Only in Harbin could there be a snowman in summer

SIBERIAN TIGER PARK

The Heilongjiang Northeast Tiger Forest Park in Harbin is the world's largest Siberian Tiger breeding base. There are about 300 Siberian Tigers in the wild, putting them among the rarest animals on earth. The Tiger park has about 700 Tigers in captivity.

The park is safari style...you get to view the tigers from a caged van.

The tiger's prefer winter, the summer is too hot for their coats

Tiger babies. Need I say more?

Beijing: Great Wall, Summer Palace, Olympic Park

The number one reason people visit Beijing is to see the Great Wall. The Wall is thousands of miles long, so you can see it in places other than Beijing. However the Wall is in varying degrees of disrepair and the best maintained portions are near Beijing. The Wall passes through northern Shaanxi province (where I live), and I was tempted by the proximity to go see it there in lieu of Beijing. I asked a dozen of my students from northern Shaanxi and no one knew the Wall passed by their hometowns.

THE GREAT WALL

There are three sections of the Wall in Beijing that are open to tourists. The closest is packed with tourist and the farthest has only a few but it is several hours farther from Beijing than the other sections. I visited the middle section known as the Mutianyu Great Wall. I was pleasantly surprised that this section was not overrun with tourists, especially because it was a holiday in China (Dragon Boat Festival).

Its like it goes on forever

Couldn't you put this telephone pole somewhere else, like not on the Great Wall?

After hours of walking along the Great Wall, there are only two ways to get down that dont involve walking

The toboggan is a very dangerous way to descend from the Wall. That is unless you are stuck behind someone who wont let go of the break, then its just a very boring way to descend from the Wall

SUMMER PALACE

The Summer Palace was built for the emperor during the Qing Dynasty. It's 2.2 square kilometer lake was dug by hand. The excavated dirt was used to build Longevity hill.

The palace complex contains many long covered walkways making it a good place to visit in the rain

Kunming lake is man made and fashioned after the West Lake in Hangzhou

A boat made out of stone? Interesting concept...

OLYMPIC PARK

Arguably the best monumental additions to Beijing since the height of the Qing Dynasty. If you are going to see the Olympic Park, go at night for the lights.

The cube...where Michael Phelps won all those medals

The bird's nest

The Olympic Tourch. Sadly the flame had already left for London.

Beijing: Tiananmen Square, Art, and Food

Its my last week in China, and with all my work responsibilities finished I could focus on my China bucket list. For many reasons (esp. Great Wall, Forbidden Palace, Olympic Village) Beijing was at the top of my list. Tibet was a close second, but the recent ban on foreign tourists to Tibet ruled it out.

What they say about Beijing's pollution is true. The city's air pollution is unimaginable for anyone who hasn't visited. It is the only city in China I've visited that has worse air pollution than Xi'an. Even the rain did not clear up the skys during my visit (a rainstorm usually brings clear skys to Xi'an). Beijing is also very big. It is second in population to Shanghai, but has much more urban sprawl. Beijing is a car oriented city with wide boulevards and five circular expressways.

All highways in China originate in Beijing. This marker just south of Tiananmen Square is the 0.Km marker for all highways in China.

TIANANMEN SQUARE

My first stop in Beijing was to the center of the city--the infamous Tiananmen Square. This is the epicenter of the People's Government of China and the site of the Forbidden City.

One of the many government buildings in Tiananmen Square. This one is on the back of the 100 Yuan.

The main gate to the forbidden city

Mao

The walls are...big

The forbidden palace

One of the alleyways in the forbidden city

The main street through Tiananmen Square. It really showcases the extent of Beijing's air quality issues

China National Museum

A sculpture with the 'Mao is the sun' motif

798 ART DISTRICT

Beijing is home to the best art district in China (sorry Shanghai). Although 798 looks like a copy of the typical gritty industrial park turned artist colony you'd find in America or Europe, the art is uniquely Chinese modern.

Look familiar Cleveland?

Chinese dinosaurs would be red

WANGFUJING STREET

The busiest pedestrian street in Beijing. Its a great place to go if you are in the mood to shop or try some local street food. Some of the food is rather...exotic. I dont feel like I missed out by skipping some of these 'foods'.

Mmmm...starfish

Lizard?

That's probably poisonous too