Harbin Metro

One of the lovely entryways to the Harbin Metro, which currently only has one line. What a line it is though! It's double the cost of the bus (¥2), but much faster of course. I've read that there are plans to extend the system, but so far the only work I've seen is along the existing line. The entryway pictured leads to the Xuefulu Metro Station.

Dragon Park

This is hands down the awesomest park sculpture I've ever seen! I can't find the name of the park, but it's at the meeting of Dongdazhi and Yiman Streets, just north of the ABC College of Foreign Languages on Dongdazhi and Kuancheng Streets. I'm guessing it's called Dragon Park, but one never knows...

Temple of Confucius

One of the gateways of Harbin's Temple of Confucius on Wenmiao Street, built under the Republic of China in 1926. The main hall of the Temple is still set aside for worship, but its other halls now house exhibits of the Heilongjiang Museum of Nationalities. Admission is free with a passport or local ID.

Kaide Mall

A mall just isn't a mall without flamingos apparently!

Holy Protection Church

Holy Protection Chinese Orthodox Church on Dongdazhi Jie, formerly the parish church of Harbin's Ukrainian residents. Across the street is a Roman Catholic cathedral, while just north of the parish stands a church belonging to the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. A little further north I believe a mosque can be found - throw in a Buddhist temple and this section of Dongdazhi would pretty much have everything covered!

Hongbo Square

A view of Hongbo Square in central Harbin. Sometimes Harbin has the most delightful architectural features and monuments...and then there's whatever this is. The city's iconic St. Nicholas Cathedral used to stand in Hongbo, but were obviously removed at some point. (A replica of the cathedral now stands in Harbin's Volga Manor resort as its art gallery.)

Cost of Living in Harbin

Here's a basic list of costs to go off of if you're looking at how much it costs to live here in Harbin. I wouldn't claim these are the lowest prices you can find since I do a great deal of my shopping at the Carrefour down the street from my apartment for convenience's sake, but they'll still give you an idea of the cost of living here! I'll continue updating this post as time goes on.

There is another basic listing of living costs here, but I didn't find it to be entirely helpful when I was getting ready to move here (hence this list!). All the dollar prices listed here are in US dollars.


Living Costs in Harbin

Appliances
Bread maker (midrange) = ¥500.00 / $81.15
Coffee maker (drip / small) = ¥318.00 / $51.61
Electric kettle = ¥80.00 / $12.98
French press (small) = ¥50.00 / $8.04
Iron (midrange) = ¥40.00 / $6.49
Ironing board (small) = ¥110.00 / $17.85
Toaster oven (midrange) = ¥300.00 / $48.69

Beverages
Beer (local / 500ml) = ¥3.90 / $0.63
Fruit juice (local / 1L) = ¥12 / $1.95 (approximately)
Latte (Bomele 1931) = ¥24.00 / $3.90
Water (Nongfu Spring / 4L) = ¥7.50 / $1.22
Wine (Yellow Tail / 750ml) = ¥125 / $20.29

Cleaning Supplies
Dishwashing detergent (local / 500ml) = ¥3.50 / $0.57

Clothes
Winter scarf = ¥40 / $6.53 (approximately)

Food
Coconut milk (400ml) = ¥11.00 / $1.77
Egg (chicken) = ¥0.90 / $0.15 (approximately)
Extra virgin olive oil (imported / 1L) = ¥60.00 / $9.74 (approximately)
Ice cream (500g) = ¥34.50 / $5.60
Ketchup (Heinz / 300g) = ¥9.00 / $1.46
Nutella (350g) = ¥35.00 / $5.68
Oreos (130g) = ¥5.10 / $0.83
Pringles (regular-size) = ¥8.90 / $1.44
Rice (short-grain / 1kg) = ¥4.60 / $0.75
Sausage (local / 1 link) = ¥5.00 / $0.81 (approximately)
Snickers (regular-size) = ¥4.00 / $0.65
Soy sauce (local / 500ml) = ¥5.30 / $0.86
Sweet potatoes (1kg) = ¥3.80 / $0.62
Vegetable oil (5L) = ¥38.90 / $6.31
Vinegar (local / 420ml) = ¥4.00 / $0.65
Yogurt (flavored / 260g) = ¥5.90 / $0.96

Fruits
Grapefruit = ¥5.00 / $0.81 (approximately)
Papaya (whole) = ¥10.00 / $1.61
Peach (medium-large) = ¥3.00 / $0.49 (approximately)
Watermelon = ¥10.00 / $1.62 (approximately)

Furniture and Furnishings
Room divider (wicker / cheap) = ¥150 / $24.35
Stool = ¥49 / $8.00
Trash can (plastic / small) = ¥4.90 / $0.80

Personal Care
Bar soap (local) = ¥3.90 / $0.63
Bath towel = ¥109.00 / $17.69
Face mask (with filter insert) = ¥9.90 / $1.61
Facial tissues (local) = ¥2.00 / $0.33
Hand towel = ¥29.90 / $4.85
Shampoo (local / 380ml) = ¥26.50 / $4.30
Washcloth = ¥14.90 / $2.42

Services
Haircut (with wash) = ¥20 / $3.20

Transportation
Bus (no transfers) = ¥1.00 / $0.16
Metro (multiple stops) = ¥2.00 / $0.33
Taxi (1.8km / 1.12mi) = ¥9.00 / $1.46

Bomele 1931

The lovely Bomele 1931 cafe downtown on Zhongyang Avenue. (A brief article on this particular branch can be found here.) Bomele 1931 is a nice local alternative to Starbucks, and a cheaper one at that! It's not cheap by local standards (a latte costs ¥24), but that's a better deal than the local Starbucks!

Body Image and Size in China

This is a warning: If you have body image issues, you might not want to move to China! I cannot recall the last time I was told I was fat to my face, much less so frequently. A Chinese coworker was walking me through a lesson plan and telling me we could compare me with my students' former teacher, and said something along the lines of, 'Since you are so fat, you could not run so fast, but since so and so is very thin, he could run very fast!' She proceeded to discuss how to plug that example into the grammar being covered in the lesson. When I start teaching a new class the students consistently tell me how tall and fat I am. New acquaintances sometimes tell me the same thing.

I came to China prepared for a less reserved approach to discussing weight. It's the same in many other parts of the world. In some of them telling a person they're fat is a compliment, and fatness can even be a sort of status symbol! (After all, in most of the world being overweight is tied to prosperity and upper class jobs, not poverty and un or under-employment.) Here it's not that at all. (For a good survey of the body image issues this can cause in the Asian-American community check this article out.) Thinness is the norm here, and the preferred one too, which I've found a little surprising given how many overweight and obese people I've seen out and about here in Harbin.

For someone as tall as I am there are daily reminders that I am several sizes too big to fit in here. I'm constantly ducking my head to keep from hitting it on doorways and decorations. Navigating the sidewalks, supermarkets, and malls most other people squeeze through spaces I have to turn sideways to fit through. (If I can fit through them at all!) I have trouble not stepping on people's toes on the bus 'cause I wear a US size 15. (I just looked up a conversion chart and there weren't even equivalent Chinese shoe sizes listed - apparently those only go up to the equivalent of a US size 13!) I'm practically bent in two when I wash the dishes at home. And then on top of it all I've had almost daily reminders at work about how much larger I am than the norm.

And yet in a way I've appreciated the blasé way weight is brought up. In a way being able to discuss it with almost-strangers is very freeing. Some of the shame is taken away from being overweight when it's just another topic of discussion. Conversely, too many more reminders and I'm sure it won't feel so freeing anymore! But in the scheme of things, given my height and frame I'm not horrifically overweight. I'm no marathon runner anymore, but I'm functionally fit, and I have yet to have any heart or weight-related issues turn up at the doctor's. (Beyond my weight itself being too high of course.)

All the same, it sure can feel like I'm horrifically overweight here. For every obese person I pass on the streets I pass a hundred others who are practically skin and bones. (Sometimes in that stomach-turning way that so many Western models are skinny.) And that in and of itself can be pretty discouraging for someone trying to work on eating healthier and exercising more, and yet not achieving many results. Then again, perhaps given my height and frame, I always will be perceived as gargantuan here, even if I do reach the ideal weight for my height and age. That thought can be pretty discouraging too. So, a word to the wise, if you're in a similar boat and considering a move to China, decide first whether you can handle the above before you make the move!

Personal Space

Americans sometimes joke about having personal space bubbles around them and not being comfortable with people invading that bubble by standing too closely, being too touchy or huggy, or sitting too close. When I moved to the States a little over a decade ago I found these bubbles to be sad and alienating, and was rather discouraged by how distant Americans were. I went from cultures and countries where physical closeness was normative to one where most people were islands. I actually chose which church to attend based largely on how many Eastern

Crowded Zhongyang Dajie.

European immigrants attended it already. Their kisses - a normal part of greetings in many parts of the world - and Old World manners helped ease my homesickness and loneliness a great deal.

That being the case, as I've settled into Harbin it's come as a surprise to me to discover how much of a bubble I've developed over the past few years! Even with short-term moves to Eastern Europe and Africa I've still managed to develop a zone of physical space within which I'm comfortable, and which I'm uncomfortable having violated. And it is violated on a daily basis here! In the elevator, on the bus, walking down the street, shopping at the grocery store - everywhere you go there are people popping out of the woodwork it seems, and precious little personal space to go around.

Something refreshing about all of this change - uncomfortable as it has been - is seeing how relaxed people are with the presence of others. When someone gets on the elevator they don't stand in the corner opposite from me, more often than not they're right next me. Likewise on the bus, where people will often settle their children on strangers' laps if there's no seating available for them. And if I bump into someone by accident pretty much anywhere there's no need for the Canadian sorries and apologies that spring to my lips - it happens all the time, and is a complete non-event. (Hugs and greeting kisses seem to be another thing entirely - I haven't seen much of either since arriving here. To each their own though!)

It's been strange discovering that I've developed a bubble, and awkwardly delightful deconstructing it bit by bit over the past month. If nothing else Harbin has reminded me of who I was and is helping me reclaim it, and for that I am grateful!

Beer Garden

One of the outdoor, covered beer gardens (is there a better kind of garden?!) along Harbin's Zhongyang Dajie. The local beers are pretty decent and a 500ml-bottle (roughly a pint) generally only costs around ¥4 ($0.65), which is pretty epic!

Flood Control Monument

The Flood Control Monument at the center of Stalin Park and the head of Zhongyang Dajie, Harbin's pedestrian street. Stalin Park was laid out in 1953 to commemorate the friendship of the Soviet Union and China, whilst the Flood Control Monument commemorates the successful control of a massive flood in 1957 and the victims of another flood in 1998.

Past and Present Collide

The former bell tower of Holy Dormition Orthodox Church, built as the cemetery church of Novoye Cemetery, one of Harbin's Orthodox Christian burial grounds. The bell tower is now an entryway to the Harbin Cultural Park, while the old church is now the Park's Electronic Amusement Hall.