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Published: April 1st 2011
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Harbin
Russian buildings in Harbin Yes, I have started my descent to the bowels of China, or maybe that sounds too frightening, so I should just say I am going south again. And yes, I know I said we, but I am using the editorial we, or maybe it is the Royal we, I will leave that up to you.
Before moving in a general downward direction, I reached the northern most peak of my journey at this point in time in Harbin. I say at this point in time, because I am planning on returning to north-eastern China in June. Why? Because there are a lot of nature reserves up there which I want to see but which are still closed at this time of the year. So what was the use of going up to Harbin in the first place? Secretly I was hoping beyond hope that there would still be something left of the Ice Sculpture Festival that is held in January/February, where the most outrageous designs are carved out of huge chunks of ice. Think Eiffel Tower, The Great Wall, Grand Canyon and that sort of stuff. But alas, spring had arrived and apart from the frozen river there was no
Harbin
Flood monument ice left. But Harbin has other things to recommend it, a pedestrian zone full of remnants of a Russian presence, and of a Jewish one as well. Both groups are long gone, but the buildings remain. On the outskirts of town there is more grim attraction, in the form of the Japanese Germ Warfare Experimental Base, where the Japanese did live tests on Chinese civilians and POW's from various nations. Here 3000 people died in the most horrendous of ways, being injected with the bubonic plague, or frozen alive to see the effect of frost bite. The Japanese tried to cover it up before leaving by blowing up the whole base, but in vain. The main barracks have been rebuilt and it houses a sobering museum.
I needed a bit more lighthearted attractions after that so I decided to warm my bones and my soul by moving south. I returned to Beijing where I took in the hutongs and circumnavigated the Forbidden City, before admiring some of China's modern architecture on the former Olympic grounds.
I also met up with a Chinese fellow named Eugene, well that was his English name, every self respecting Chinese has one. I
Harbin
Jewish Synagogue first encountered Eugene in Dunhuang last year, and we have stayed in contact ever since. I had an interesting conversation about the notable absence of deodorant in Chinese shops. It is impossible to find! After unfruitful attempts at finding it in Dandong, Harbin and even Beijing I had to get to the bottom of this. I now know that you can buy it in Watson's, a Hong Kong based chain, which can be found in most shopping malls. But why not everywhere?
"Don't the Chinese sweat?" I asked Eugene.
"No. We Chinese believe that western people sweat more because you are all so hairy. We don't have all this hair and so we sweat less and smell less and we don't need to use deodorant."
Clearly Eugene has never been in a Chinese bus, train, queue or big crowd, or else he would have noticed that indeed the Chinese are not miraculously immune against smell emanating from sweaty armpits. My nose has had many an unpleasant experience in this country caused by just this lack of deodorant. I am not trying to make a fool of Eugene, I just found the conversation interesting because it highlights one of many small
Harbin
Russian Orthodox Church cultural differences between us. Perhaps the Chinese don't smell their own body odors and have thus come this conclusion.
After solving this mystery Eugene took me to Beijings most famous Roast Duck restaurant and treated me to a very delicious meal of Peking Duck! I can't thank him enough for his kindness and I will never be able to repay him, because if ever he would visit me in my country I could either offer him kale mashed with potatoes and sausages, french fries with mayo and curry sauce sprinkled with onions or raw herring. None of these could be considered culinary highlights.
With a full belly I made my way to a small stone village. Stone villages of course are not that uncommon in the world, what caught my attention was the fact that the furniture was also made of stone or so it said. The ride to Yunjiacun was rather foreboding as the bus took me through a scared landscape of open pit coal mines and stone quarries, along a very dusty provincial road. Luckily Yunjiacun itself somehow was surrounded by the only hills that weren't dug away. As for the stone furniture, I didn't see
Harbin
Japanese Experimental Germ Warfare Lab any, but the village was nice and there were no tourist whatsoever, which is not surprising as it is rather hard to get to. I spent a lovely day and night there, just wandering around the cobbled stone streets and looking at village life.
A very slow but inexpensive train ride later I arrived in Taiyuan only to take another cheap train to Pingyao. I left Pingyao without seeing it, which sounds like a pity, but it isn't as I was returning the next day. Instead I went to Lijiashan a cave village which I have decided was the most authentic experience I have had so far in China. No tourists again, probably because to get there you need to walk the last hour or so. Only about twenty families left, with most of the cave dwellings abandoned and crumbling. The landscape was sublime, the courtyard houses suitably run down. Yes courtyard houses. You see only the back of the house is actually borrowed into the hills, and the cave rooms are more like vaults than caves and icily cold I found out to my dismay. But the population was extremely friendly, and as I and Paul, a Kiwi
Harbin
Not a nice place! I had met on the bus to Lijiashan, sipped on our beer admiring the sunset we were softly berated by a spritely old 83 year old warning us that we would develop a pot-belly if we kept on drinking. What more can you wish for?
And Pingyao? Well it is a touristic town, being one of the few places which has retained the greater part of its traditional buildings within the mighty city walls. But if you veer of the main tourist strips, you quickly notice that old China still exist beyond, with families living in crumbling courtyard homes which haven't been overly restored and turned into souvenir shops, restaurants and hotels. But what is China anyway? What you get to see on my blogs is exactly what we would like China to look like, our own private fantasies of this country, with cobbled streets, upturned eaves and red lanterns. That is truly only a mirage, the real China exists of big cities, highways cutting through mountains, high-speed railway lines being built at breakneck speed, and a poor rural population hardly ever living in the pretty houses I show on my blogs. And so I give you my totally
Harbin
Monument to the victims false version of China, a China from the film, a one that vanished a long time ago. If you want to see the real thing, you just need to visit yourself because I ain't gonna show it.
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Sam in Hushi
Samantha Hurt
Well done
I could relate very easily to the deodorant part of your story - Watson's was my best friend while I lived in Inner Mongolia. Well-written with great photos. I wanted to ask: that Beijing Duck restaurant - was it called "Da Dong" Beijing Kao Ya? It also sells sea cucumber delicacies, apparently. Anyway that's where I went for Beijing duck in Beijing, and it was delicious! I wonder if you went to the same place?