Walking through Harbin

I first came to Harbin in January of 2002. It was about 6 months after I arrived in China and the first destination I traveled outside of Beijing and Sichuan I visited. As soon as we completed our first semster of teaching in Luzhou, my friend Brian and I took the train to China's famous northeastern city. We stayed in an old hotel in 'lao Harbin' (or old Harbin) on a pedestrian street of cobblestones. Aside from being outside in the cold, Harbin in winter was a great place to visit. We spent about 4 or 5 days walking around the cold streets, exploring Russian and Korean food, visiting Siberian tigers, and anti- Japanese museums. In the middle of winter, Harbin has a big ice and snow festival where we could climb on and through large sculptures of ice with colored lights inside. Although I did quite a lot in those few days I was here, most of my memories of being here in the winter are limited to walking through the cobblestone streets of lao Harbin.

Being in Harbin during the summer at a university is quite a different experience. My daily life consists of studying, going to class, running, eating, and more studying. I've gotten into a routine here that pretty much remains limited to the university campus. Friday night I broke that routine when, at 9:30 at night, some friends and I decided to take a walk in the cool night air to lao Harbin. From the campus, its about an hour walk to this area of town. Walking through Chinese cities is a must I do in all cities I visit, but the distraction of classes has kept me from exploring much since I got here.

Once we survived walking through the terrible Harbin traffic (traffic is much worse here than other Chinese cities) to the pedestrian friendly lao Harbin, we wandered through these streets and to the river. Maybe because its cool, clean, and free of cars, its a popular destination for many to stroll during the evening. As I was walking, I had a hard time believing that this was the same city I had visited years before. It was warm, people were enjoying being outside, there was a lot of laughing, there were street vendors selling ice cream and cold drinks on every block, and, of course, the clashing sounds of karaoke were abundant.

I think the seasonal differences are the most obvious explanation for the differences. But I now have a different relationship with the city. I can think of Harbin as much more of a city where people live and I am not secluding myself to the touristed cobblestone streets and ice festival. Like many others out on Friday night, my friends and I were grateful for the cool air and the peaceful, car-free environment as an escape from the routines that guide our days. I hope that by next summer, I can write about Harbin from a much different perspective than I have now after being here for a month.