First Impressions of Harbin, China

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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 bought conditioner or shampoo, but I know it's Pantene. All packaging is in Chinese
*Lots of different kinds of teas
*Spring is average 18'C; winter is -30'C - a long cold winter, but with benefit of ice festivals and winter sports. River freezes SOLID.

*Right now I'm not thinking in complete sentences. We are weighing up China vs India. There are benefits and disadvantages to both. I think the next few days are important, to see more of the city.
Take a look at the first of our photos of China (that's if I can upload them - lots of sites are banned)!
Any comments welcome! 😊

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Photos

Grocery shop
We don't know what 90% of the things are.

Russian-influenced buildings
China borders Russia. Most other white people in Harbin are Russian

River - lovely esplanade to walk along
People do thai chi, sing, dance, fly kites, cycle and walk along here. There are even outdoor exercise machines where people stretch and get some exercise. They even do gymnastics outside.

Beer garden and outdoor meat market.
There are sticks of meat (every and any kind), cooked right in front of you

Dancing outside
Keep in mind that this was a Tuesday afternoon. Not sure why they are not at work.