To Russia I shall go?

Haerbin, Heilongjiang Province

I've spent the past couple of days in Haerbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang the most Eastern Province in China. Most of the city is not much different than anywhere else in North Eastern China, somewhat nondescript.

I did get the chance however to visit a Siberian tiger reserve that was located about 15km out of town. I didn't realize that tigers were such big animals! Three times, I had tigers run at me but I was inside a bus the first time and the others i was in a caged walkway. The times in the walkway I think they were just playing but the time on the bus I think it was hungry. we had just seen a bigger tiger walk up and take away it's dead bird no dispute, it was his to take. I found a food stall at the bottom of Zhongyang Dajie(street) a beautiful pedestrian street that sold the best frozen fruit I've had in China. It's usual to see vendors selling cold fruit on a stick covered in sweet sauce, kind of like candy apples back home. At this particular stall there was a huge variety of different fruit (most of which is available only in China) And a plus, the fruit had sesame seeds on the outside. MM it was sooo good. Also, they sold other food which was cooked in a typical Chinese street vendor fashion. Pieces of tofu, meat balls, bunches of noodles, greens, and other things unrecognizable are put on sticks and boiled in spicy water. You are given a plate and then you pick the sticks of food that you want and there is ground sesame sauce(looks like juicy peanut butter) and hot sauce that you can put on your plate to dip your food into. There was also my favorite; pieces of beef (or possibly it was dog who will ever really know?) on sticks that they will BBQ over a box of coals on the spot along with a type of round spicy garlic bread which this particular vendor sprinkled sugar onto as well. MM it was a delicious and incredibly cheap with all of dinner costing 12 yuan in total = 12/7.5... Zhongyang Street is beautiful because of its' coble stones and the old Russian architecture. There used to be a big Russian community that lived here in Haerbin and so any of the buildings here are done in that style. I had some coffee at a charming Russian coffee house, that was decorated with all types of ornaments and black and white photos of old Russian Haerbin. I enjoyed the cafe but the coffee didn't agree with my system and everything went right through me. Right now I have some time to wait until I take a train to Manzhouli a border city with Russia in the Inner Mongolia province of China. I want to go to this city because my handy 'ol Lonely Planet book says that it has more of a Russian feel to it than anything, and I didn't apply for a Russian visa. I think that it will be about -30 here so I hope that I don't die. Going to this town is about 26 hours out of my way because there is no link to the West (where I'm put putting back to) except back to Haerbin but I really wanted to check it out so here we go! Plus, I haven't seen snow since I accidently went to Jilin city before Changchun. It's not fair that I'm across the world looking for snow and CR and VAn just had a dumpload!

A map of Haerbin

Cities are alive, constantly changing,
When I look at this map I see streets full of people,
Bumping into each other on their way,
Moving quickly to their destinations.
Half a dot on the map has 10 bikes,
2 buses, 30 cars, 1 truck and 4 vans.

China
The Fun,The Weird and The Ridiculous.
1. Spitting.
Everyone spits but you hear it before you see it. Men will make the most disgusting ' I've got mucous stuck in my nose and throat and probably my left toe, and have to get it out' sound then spit their globs anywhere they please. I've only seen a few women spit and they don't make the noise just spit.
2. Sports
The Chinese LOVE Basketball and soccer even though internationally they're not good at either. Ping Pong or table tenis and badminton are their national sports.
3. Foreigners
Most of the Chinese are very curious about foreigners and are friendly. When I get lost I ask for directions and yesterday I had 30 men surrounding me trying to see what was going on. You'd think they'd never heard a native english speaker before...well I think that this was the case.
4. Bait
Also, as a foreigner you're bait for the awaiting sales prey. Many, not all of the Chinese will take complete advantage of you if you let your guard down. Today, a stall located next to the toilet tried to charge me for going pee but when the Chinese went in they didn't charge them. I told them I wasn't paying. I used the toilet and left, but not before they yelled at me and even the people at the next stalls were involved. Yesterday I bought 2 AA batteries for 5 Yuan. When they died I went to buy more and a girl about my age tried to charge me 20Yuan for 2. I Said NO! I took the batteries gave her 8 Yuan and left, she had a sly look on her face but knew that it was fair. I had to be aggressive , but by now I am not afraid to be aggressive or rude.
5. Trains
I meet a lot of people on the trains because of being a foreigner. If I speak to anyone on the train for any length of time it's not long before a large number of people in my car come over to listen and see what's going on. It's pretty funny.
6. Vehicles
There are so many different types of vehicles here! None of which look much like anything used back in Canada except for the city buses and few expensive cars.
a)There are mini-cars that only have 3 wheels and I'm pretty sure that they run by burning coal.
b)mini-vans that many residents use. They're shaped like boxes.
c)Big trucks for carrying goods that are like semi-trucks except they don't have roofs, instead they have a huge tarp over the back, and so it seems like things will topple over at any moment.
d)carts pulled by donkeys. carts pulled by people both walking and on bikes.
e)bikes of all sorts. It's not unusual to look out the bus window and to see 2 pedalbikers beside you at anytime. Then there's so many varieties of motorbikes which sweep out of everywhere at once.
7. Wo/man Power
I carry around my big travel bag on my back. Many Chinese carry huge bags that look like they might have rice in them on their shoulders. It never ceases to amaze me the amount that they can carry, or tow. On their carts there can be up to 30 bags (of rice?) loaded on and maybe they're towing it or sometimes taking it with motorized bikes.