Blogs from Heilongjiang, China, Asia - page 4

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Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin » My house May 3rd 2011

First impressions of Harbin: *busy *lots of people *a bit dusty *first world country, very clean *beautiful river and esplanade *good shops, including grocery stores *weird food *very fashion-conscious people *don't get stared at quite so often as in India *lots of tall buildings and constant construction *drive on right hand side of road - left hand drive cars - very confusing *language is difficult to understand - so far we have shi shi (thank you) and ni hao (hello); mandarin *lessons between Gordon and myself are held in room 1822 (our room) every night after dinner *Gordon is meeting McCain staff today, but factory looks good *Meeting today with someone who can help me with English-teaching jobs *taxi drivers drive fast and rather recklessly, weaving in and out of traffic *I don't know if I ... read more
City Centre
Underground market
Grocery shop

Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin February 20th 2011

Beijing colleagues said:"Harbin is so cold that if you stick out a finger, your finger will fall off. If you raise your leg, your leg will break!" Sounds really scary!! Brought a full suitcase of winter apparels, not knowing what kind of bitter cold we will expect. Upon arrival, I put on 2 down jackets just getting from the airport to the car. Actually, it's not that cold. Upon check in at Club Med, I could even walk around in singlet yeah! Even more comfortable than Shanghai! A bit apprenhensive about skiing in the cold. Got into our gear, slowly wriggle out and off we went onto the mini slope. Maybe I was tensed, I totally forgot about the cold. Skiing was fun... Quite happy with my mini slope till Ms Lin suggested that we go ... read more

Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin January 24th 2011

Une dernière fin de semaine d'aventures chinoises avant la Nouvelle-Zélande! On a dû faire un petit troc entre le -20 de Shenyang pour le -29 de Harbin, mais ça aura valu chaque degrés de perdus :-) Un royaume de glace et de neige, comme dans les contes de fées, c'est pas tous les jours qu'on a la chance de voir ça!... read more
En route vers le bar
La petite sirène
Les hommes sexy de Harbin

Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin January 16th 2011

In our quest to see as much of China as we can before moving back to the states, I suggested that we take a trip to Harbin in Northern China to see the Snow and Ice Festival. So we have heard all of the stories about the cold and brought many layers of clothes but I know Jason was questioning my judgment when the captain came on the speaker of the plane and said that we would be landing at 12:35 in the afternoon and it was -16 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point I was even questioning my judgment. Anyway, we were there and off to another adventure, a very cold one. Harbin is considered one of China's most beautiful cities. The city is well known for its unique, Russian and European influenced architecture. As we ... read more
Central Street
Saint Sofia Church
Inside Church

Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin July 7th 2010

Our first stop of this Northeast China tour was Harbin. First place we went to was the Siberian Tigers Park which consists of a safari where visitors see the tigers and lions in their natural environment by travelling in a vehicle and another part where you see the animals in their cage. It was a rare chance to see the beautiful tigers so close up and there are also other rare cats in the caged in area too. Next stop was to Haerbin’s most famous street - Central Street and St Sofia Orthodox Church-the largest Orthodox Church in the Far East built by the Russians in the 1900s. Central Street with its famous buildings with Russian and European architectural is now the most popular commerical street in the city. While, we were there, it was in ... read more
Tigers resting
Central Street
St Sofia Orthodox Church

Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin July 7th 2010

The 731 Germ Warfare Unit was setup by the Japanese to carry out experiments on human beings. The museum showed proofs of the crimes against humanity by the Japanese Unit 731. Besides the exhibits, there is a long corridor with tablets with the names of victims on the walls. While we were there, we saw a group of Japanese offering prayers to the victims. The guide told us they are the descendants of soldiers who had worked in the unit. The Polar Land houses marine fishes and animals from the polar region. It was very educational and fun for the children. ... read more
Polar Land
Japanese 731 Germ Warfare Unit
Japanese 731 Germ Warfare Unit

Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin April 13th 2010

The eleventh Harbin ice and snow festival For many years now, having a number of Guinness World Records, Haerbin has been presenting this festival to the world. With over 100.000 sq. meters of snow and ice,the festival started in 1999 to call in the new millennium. Ever since, it has been attracting more and more visitors from worldwide to this freezing city with winter temperatures that can get below -30 degrees Celsius! Originally being in Zhaolin Park within the city itself, it has moved to the other side of the mighty Songhua river, which was in the news around the world in December 2005 due to a major water pollution incident. The snow sculptures are in the large Sun Island park, with the Ice festival on the other side of the main road, in the west. ... read more
On the right hand side is a miniature version of Shanghai
Confucius
Sun Island Park in winter

Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin April 13th 2010

Our holiday started on the 13th of February, the last day of the year of the ox in the Chinese calendar. Our afternoon flight landed at terminal 3, from where we took the underground to the city. After dropping our bags in the hostel, we set out to do some much needed book shopping on Wanfujing street. Very much missed in Baotou... For dinner Kerstin took me to this well known American brand of fast food restaurant she knew, where we had the best bloody burger I've had for a long time. Ooh.. it was so good!!! We washed the food down with lime cocktails... Mmmmm The evening we spent drinking local Beijing beers in the hostel chatting to other travellers. Hoping for a spectacular government organised fireworks display on Tiannanmen Square, we set out at ... read more
Happy year of the tiger!
Waiting room nr. 5
Ice building outside Harbin airport

Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Daqing April 7th 2010

On Monday 5th April, 2010, Christina, Alex, Sandra and I went to Poli Brides here in Daqing for a photo shoot. It was Alex's birthday as well so was a perfect day to dress up and feel glamorous. I arrived late as I was getting my hair extensions re-braided. The place was huge and very fancy. I walked inside, called Christina - who informed me that after paying at the counter one of the staff would collect me and take me up stairs - which all happened so smoothly. The girl who collected me was very sweet and spoke a very little amount of English. Once upstairs I noted that Sandra was getting her hair and make up done, Christina was dressed about ready to go in for hair and make up and Alex was just ... read more
Alex, Tina, Sandra and I
weeeeeeeeeeeeee
Yes, we are teachers

Asia » China » Heilongjiang » Harbin February 22nd 2010

Spring Festival celebrations continued well in to the first day of the year of the tiger. After enjoying far too much of the local tipple baijiu, a sorghum fermented paint stripper, I was hoping for a good few hours of sleep before catching my train to Harbin, the first destination of my week’s vacation. If I thought the constant firework and firecracker explosions would cease with the start of the new year, I was rudely mistaken. Even before sunrise, they had started again, and they continued until lunch. There was little chance of catching up on my sleep. I was hoping the hassle of buying train tickets over the hectic Spring Festival period was going to be worth it. Harbin, meaning ‘a place for drying fishing nests’ in the old Manchu language, is located in the ... read more
Harbin Snow Festival
Harbin Sunset
Harbin Siberian Tiger Park




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