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Published: December 13th 2009
The Korea trip has been trying for two dates still not has enough people sign up.
Harbin is the final choice after some serious thinking; because that is the only place I did not go in China yet. I do not want to stay in Beijing for that long. Good practice for my Chinese too. It is off season and before the annual ice festival, train ticket is not that hard to get a soft sleeper.
The school just finished yesterday, it is a little rush to pack for the cold weather.
I thought it will be empty at the train, surprised it is packed. I took the “Z” train.
The whole train is soft sleeper, so less people in the train and free up the restroom. I have the upper bunk as usual; I like it better beside a couple of dollar cheaper. The train took off at 9:20pm, by the time wake up is arrived. I had a nice sleep. It took a little less than 10 hours on the high speed train for 1249km journey.
My teacher from BLCU is from Harbin. It happens she is on the same train because her grandmother is in serious
H3
Train bunk with TVillness. She gave me a ride to the hotel. It is not that far but in a cold morning plus need to cross a busy street. It is very nice of her. It is snowing lightly so is not that cold, may be in the low 20’F or -8C may be.
The JinJiang Inn is a Chinese budget chains, operated like Mote 6 but nicer. They even have a directory like Motel 6. The internet connection comes with UPS wall plug, first time I see in a hotel. It is located in the Daoli district, right in the downtown area, walking distance to most area. My research pays off again. I try to peek at the ice sculpture in making, but they are off limits.
Daoli district make me think of San Francisco Union square area. The St. Sophia Church square just like the Union square but bigger and nicer. It also has all the shopping center around it both above and under ground. Traffic is as bad. It also has the mixes of old and new buildings, unlike any other cities in China. I never see so many clothing stores in one area within two miles radius.
H4
Head phone is for watching TV in private It is like put the Los Angeles garment district under ground and the downtown San Francisco above ground. Plus the toy district, the flower market and indoor swap meet all in one area. There many huge under ground malls usually cover a few city blocks. It is difficult to come out the same hole you went in. They know how to save energy for hundred of years before LEED exists without large amount of papers works.
After the snow is getting cold, I need to wear two thermos, two wool sweaters. The temperature range from 7 to -15 F or -15 to -25 C. Sunrise at 7:00am and set at 4:00pm, not much daylight hours. I have problem with the eye glasses for in and out the store, I switch to contact lenses instead. A real field test for my Beijing bought Northface jacket and the camera gears. My cheap Nikon can not restart the next day after a cold night out. I really need a professional grade camera but I hate to carry a big camera to travel. My Rockport boot hold up for the rain, snow and mud so far. I should bring the 8” boot along.
H5
Early bird arrival It is a nice town and I have five days here is a lot of time. The bad thing is on Tue. I need to check out before noon, my train is 9:36 pm. I need to stay out all day cold, good day for window shopping on all the shops and keep warm. I just take it easy every day, go out late and come back early because too cold otherwise. The hotel is not bad plus the city view. A nice relaxation before head back to the normal busy live. This is my last trip of the year and is a record year.
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ralph lew
non-member comment
it looks like an interesting place to visit...but i think it is a little too cold for me during the winter. i can not stand the cold weather in the (40's) in l.a. in order to keep warm in harbin, you need to keep moving....