Contrasts: Harbin and an African City

This isn't meant to disparage Harbin, but rather to highlight the differences between a modern, relatively developed major Chinese city and a city on a continent many Westerners view as being backward and only worth visiting as a tourist, not living in. If you're looking at a variety of work options outside the West it may help you recast your decision from simply being about the development level of the regions or countries you're looking at to considering the local cultures and societal norms involved.

By way of disclaimer, the African city I spent the Lunar New Year holidays in was never colonized and therefore isn’t winning because of some residual European colonial influence. (Some Westerners still seem to think everything good in Africa came from their colonizer homelands, nevermind the incredible oppression, economic exploitation, and illogical political divisions caused by colonialism. That’s a topic to explore on another blog, however!) This is very much unlike Harbin, which was founded and built by citizens of the Russian Empire and was run by White Russians or mixed Russian/Chinese administrations until the 1930s. That being said, here are the five things that really stood out to me after my trip:

1) Friendliness: Despite being a city roughly the same size as Harbin, people were friendly. And I don’t mean the fake nod-and-smile friendly people in the American South are, I mean ask-how-you’re-doing, take-three-hours-out-of-their-afternoon-to-make-sure-you-find-where-you’re-going friendly.

2) Service in English: The staff at any non-hole-in-the-wall restaurant spoke enough English to figure out my order. (Because, shockingly enough, since they get a fair number of foreign businessmen and tourists – just like Harbin – they figured they ought to speak some English so that they could get more business!) Contrast this with Harbin, where if you find a waiter or waitress who can say more than hello you’ve really hit the jackpot! (I exaggerate a little, but not by much. On the plus side, service is so discouraging here that it can put one off going out at all, which is probably for the best!)

3) Queuing: Since moving to Harbin I’ve seen two queues for buses in the city (and taken pictures both times ‘cause it was so shocking!). The only other places I’ve seen queues have been a couple of larger grocery store chains and Starbucks (which I have grown to love because their staff will tell people to get in line when they start forming the standard cantankerous mob in front of the registers). Where I holidayed there were queues everywhere – for buses, ticket counters, services! I wanted to go around shaking people’s hands for their civility and sense! Here this third world (if you’ll pardon the expression) city has figured out what the PRC with all its money and supposed civilization has yet to figure out. It was glorious.

4) Smoking: In the two and a half weeks I was on holiday I could count on one hand the number of smokers I saw out and about! The only time I saw smoking in a restaurant (and I ate out a lot!) it was in a designated, standing-only area away from the tables and it was a bunch of foreigners, not locals. Contrast this with Harbin, where even in the airport and the nicest malls the bathrooms reek of cigarette smoke and indoor smoking is common in most restaurants and even high-end cafes.

5) Hacking: You literally cannot go outdoors in Harbin without hearing someone (excuse me, half of the people around you at any given time) making the most wretched sounds before they spit giant gobs of nastiness on the sidewalk in front of you. This is no doubt due in great part to the incredibly bad air pollution during the winter, something most Chinese cities seem to have in common. Where I holidayed, by contrast, I occasionally saw someone spit, but it was by no means an every-other-moment event, nor was it accompanied by the disgusting sounds it’s always accompanied with in Harbin.

Needless to say, there were contrasts the other way - periodic electricity and water outages every couple of days that only rarely happen in Harbin, internet access issues due to the national telecom monopoly there, et cetera - that made Harbin look good, but it amazed me how the five things above made leaving the house so much less stressful. It was such a pleasant break, and in many ways I dreaded returning to China at the end of it. I thought I would post this for those who might not have had the above in mind when considering moving to a Chinese city. Weirdly enough, even something as small and random as how people spit can make a big difference in your quality of life!

Train Travel in China

This post won't be particularly Harbin-focused, but there were few enough posts out there about the details of train travel - particularly overnight train travel - in China that I thought I'd write something about my recent experiences on an overnight train trip. I hope they're helpful to other would-be travelers!

From my limited (so far) experience, when you get to your local train station there'll be a row of security booths - most of them with some sort of "line" since it's China (here a "line" is usually what we'd call a crowd in North America) - where you'll need to show an officer your ticket and passport to get into departures. The document check will be followed by security, which will pointlessly scan your bags (I have yet to see anyone stopped in any sort of bag scan here) and possibly give you another pointless body scan. (I've had all kinds of metallic objects in my pockets and, again, have yet to be stopped after a body scan.)

Once you've cleared security things can get tricky. When I was leaving Harbin the posted information about departures and departure halls was accurate and it was relatively easy to find my departure hall and the queue (again, a mass of people, not a queue as we think of it) for my particular train. When I was returning to Harbin, however, the departure hall posted for my train was incorrect. If I hadn't run into a truly eccentric fellow passenger with a somewhat off-putting - and, in retrospect, touching - concern for where I was going and where I needed to be I might possibly have missed my train home! (I was in a departure hall for Harbin-bound trains, but my particular train had been switched to another hall and was partway through boarding by the time I'd made it to the correct hall!) So, I would advise asking one of the many train station employees standing around departures about your

A glimpse of my departure hall leaving Harbin.

departure hall. Even if they don't speak English they can read your ticket and direct you to where you need to go, whether it's the hall posted on the information boards or not! (And chances are they'll speak at least a little English.)

Boarding happens approximately 30 minutes before the train's scheduled departure and, as with everything in China, involves masses of people pushing and shoving to cut in front of each other and get on the train first. Hold your own, stand your ground, and you'll get in somewhere in the middle of the herd. Try to be polite in a Western sense and you'll be the last one on board. (Don't take any of it personally, unfortunately it's just how things are here.) There's no need to stamp on anyone's toes (well, generally there isn't!), just be ready to stand firm when someone start to shift you out of their way and to angle your suitcase/bags/shoulder/body/foot/whatever into the next open space ahead of you before someone behind you does!

Once you're through to your platform - you'll know it 'cause you'll be swept up in the massive river of people flowing towards it - head for your car (see the ticket infographic for the details on this) where you'll need to show the attending steward your ticket to verify you're at the right one. Then find your berth. If you're illiterate like me you'll want to ask a friend ahead of time which berths you're in and

Thanks to http://www.travelchinacheaper.com/ for posting this!

perhaps write them on the backs of your tickets so that you don't forget. Finding your berth is pretty straightforward. In the 'hard' sleeper cars there are no doors, and each section has two numbers posted (both on the walls inside the sections and on the walls across the aisles from them) indicating which set of bunks you're on. At that point you just need to get your bags into the rack across the aisle or under the bottom bunk and then settle in, either on your bunk or in one of the pull-down seats across the aisle by the windows. (Assuming they're not occupied of course!) If you're over six feet like me you will be very cramped, and might want to try to get one of the aisle seats as soon as they become available. Your butt may hurt after a while, but it'll be more comfortable than staying in the fetal position if you're on the middle bunk as I was!

An amazing aspect of traveling by train versus flying in China - in my experience, anyways - is that the trains seem to leave either on time (at worst) or a few minutes early! Now, that's only two trains for me so far, but contrast those two experiences with the five or six flights I've taken out of Chinese airports in the last year, all of which were at least 30 minutes late, if not much later. (I'm thankful I've always had two or three hour layovers before connecting flights or I would have missed several of

My berth section heading out of Harbin.

them!) I'm very grateful that I arrived at the train station about an hour and a half before both of my trips - it gave me just enough time to clear document check and security, find my hall, and make boarding. Given the masses of people at train stations here and the trains' punctuality it wouldn't pay to be late!

I didn't have any problems with other passengers trying to get into my things, but I was warned ahead of time to keep my valuables (money, credit cards, ID, tickets, phone, et cetera) with me at all times and given my already well established mistrust of others I always travel with a lock on my suitcase and smaller bags. When it's cold keeping your valuables on you is relatively easy since you can squirrel them away in the various pockets of your winter coat and wear it when you need to go to the bathroom stalls, which, being between the cars, are rather chilly. In warmer weather I imagine it would be a bit more difficult. (If I travel in the summer I think I'll lock a few things away in my suitcase for the duration of the trip and keep absolute essentials in my jeans pockets.) I also used my coat and messenger bag as a pillow when I went to bed to ensure my things didn't walk away during the night. (Better safe than sorry!) Although the lights go out around 10pm many passengers stay up talking or playing games with their berth mates till much latter, and there's enough going on that it would be relatively easy for someone to go up and down the car looking for easy pickings from those already asleep.

Once your train's underway an attendant will come through to switch your paper ticket for a flashy card showing the same information. Don't lose it, 'cause you'll need to switch it back shortly before arrival! (What the point of this switch is I do not know.) Food carts will start going up and down the train periodically, but as these are mostly noodle packs, sodas, and unhealthy snacks you might want to bring your own food with you. Only small bottles of water are sold, so if you drink a lot of water (like me) and don't trust the hot water dispensers found in nearly every public space here, then you'll want to bring a 1.5L bottle of water or two with you on the train. Many other passengers brought full (if cold)

If only this held for inside the train too!

meals on board with them, others fruit and their own snacks, so it's by no means out of the ordinary. I'm told there's a food car somewhere along the train, but given the length and crowdedness of the trains I was on I decided it wasn't worth searching for.

The 'hard' sleeper cars are basically one large dormitory, so there may be a bit of a smell when you get up. All the same, it's worth it to get a bunk somewhere in the middle of the car or else you'll get a lot of cigarette smoke from the spaces between the cars, which in addition to housing the bathroom stalls (floor toilets only on my cars) are also the designated smoking areas. (In defense of this, the stalls are in such a state that the smokers do something of a public service in covering up the smell with the cigarette smoke.) If your lungs are sensitive to such things though you might consider wearing a face mask (something PM2.5-proof) while on board, although you'd likely be the only one. (Between the epic sanitation fails, pollution, and universal smoking - indoors and out - China simply is not a health-friendly country.)

Even though I didn't fit on the sleeper bunks without some scrunching, I slept remarkably well on both of my overnight journeys and woke up much more refreshed than I ever have on an airplane. Arrival was more of the same from boarding - masses of people all trying to go in the same direction at once - and took a while. Although arrivals seem to be on time I wouldn't plan to be able to get anywhere fast - first there are the crowds, and then you have to go through more lines to show station officers your ticket (yet again) to exit the station. And given how many people arrive at once transportation - whether it's a taxi, bus, or the metro - is likely to involve a long line and at least half an hour of waiting. All the same, I enjoyed my train experience and wouldn't mind doing it again, especially given the possibility of rest and the reliability of the departure/arrival times! (And then of course there's the cost - my roundtrip on the train came in under $100, whereas the roundtrip flights would have been well over $300.) I hope any experiences you have on a Chinese train will be similarly enjoyable!

Crowds: The Chinese Queue

There's nothing like trying to get on a crowded bus at a crowded bus stop, especially during the winter. Suddenly your personal space goes from minimal to non-existent as everyone from grannies to children start shoving their way to the bus door. There is no queuing (if only!). Even once you've gotten to the door there's no yielding - I've seen grown men both try to fit through at the same time, which just does not work! (The bus entrance doors really are only wide enough for one.) Occasionally the very old or very young will get some mercy, but even this is often not the case. And strangely enough, you will endure the same pushing and shoving if you try to get on an empty bus at an

only slightly crowded bus stop - there is no concept of lining up, of making the whole process easier and quicker. Instead people skip straight to difficult as they elbow their way towards the bus door.

I grew up in places where this sort of masochism is the norm, so most of the time it doesn't bother me. When I find myself in such a situation I just pick my mascot in the crowd - someone to use as a wedge to get me in the door - and use my height and weight to push them along until we're in. But there are days I find the whole situation exhausting. It is all so incredibly unnecessary! Why the rudeness, when you could just queue up and enter the bus without the danger of being knocked flat on the icy ground? (Or, once in, the slushy bus floor!) If Chinese culture cares so much for children and expects people to honor the elderly, then why not at the very least send them to the front of the crowd? I think in some circles it is fashionable to speak of the West as being the place where it's all about the individual and individuals' selfish pursuits of what benefits them, but what is all of this rudeness - from granny and hipster alike - if not selfishness?

I wish it were only buses where this sort of thing is the norm, but unfortunately it extends to leaving the bus, getting in (and out) of elevators, entering and leaving buildings, and lines (often "lines") in stores. (And no doubt many other places!) It is all the more surprising given how friendly and warm I've found coworkers and strangers alike to be here in Harbin. All the same, the crowd "queue" craziness is something to be aware of, whether you're planning a visit or a move to this wonderful Ice City!