THE PARIS OF THE EAST

"Harbin has been called the Paris of the Far East, but not, I think, by anyone who has stayed there for any length of time" - Peter Fleming, 'One's Company'

This is obviously much delayed, as I've been back in Brazil for some time now, but I'm finally getting around to Harbin. Much can be said about Harbin, a fact which in itself is remarkable. China is life on an immense scale, and its cities have often grown a lot faster than their characters have. World cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong certainly have a feel and a history, but the more than 160 cities with a million inhabitants are, on average, gray, square, and without history or feel.

Except Harbin. Harbin is an average Chinese city (or the second largest city, were it to be in America). And unlike its Chinese comrades, it's fascinating. In 1898 it was nothing but a tiny village, until two railroad lines crossed through it. Despite the frigid winter and boiling summer, it swiftly became one of the largest and most sought after cities in China. From 1900 to 1950 the city was controlled by Manchus, Chinese, Tzarist Russians, exiled Russian Jews, a puppet regime led by the deposed former emperor of China, the Japanese, the Nationalist Chinese, and the Communists. Each group has left its mark, and the city is a sea of European shopping streets, onion domes, and that same modern Chinese architecture that is mostly reflective glass. It makes for a city that feels like a city, a unique attribute for a medium sized Chinese city. As the always brilliant Peter Fleming put it, "it is a place with a great deal of not easily definable character."

             

Mascots on their way to work . . .

The cold was brutal. I landed on a warm weekend and it was 7 Fahrenheit, at noon, on a sunny day. But more striking is how the city embraces it. The Songha freezes over, and immediately a carnival springs up on the thick ice sheet. Ice sculptures line the main streets of town, and blocks of the river are cut out, stacked on the island, and turned in the Harbin Ice Festival, a frozen but no less merry Disneyland. I've never seen so many people in China so obviously and openly happy. It was a giant party, taking place entirely in castles made of ice. It was one of the most fun things I've done in years. And all I had to wear was 7 layers, and two hats.

On the River

  

   

Sliding Down the River