A Qnery Machine

I've seen these around before and just assumed it was an ATM machine with some major translation issues going on. As it turns out it's a "query machine," dedicated to those customers who just want to check their balance. (Okaaay...) So, if you're looking for an ATM and bump into one of these things, don't get in line! Wait for an ATM or a CRS machine (for deposits, but also cash withdrawals) to open up!

Wenxing Food Street

A nightly food street on Wenxing Street, just off of Hexing Road in south-central Harbin. The food streets are apparently a fairly standard thing near university campuses as the cheaper food options are popular with the students, with a decent variety of street food available, often for ¥10 (US$1.61) or much less! Unfortunately the street - although generally jam-packed with people - isn't closed to through traffic, so if you go you'll routinely have nutters honking at you. Why they choose to drive down a road they know will be so crowded is beyond me...

Confucian Restoration

Once condemned as a symbol of the feudal, imperial order, Confucius and aspects of Confucianism seem to be enjoying a revival, perhaps to give China an ideology to follow as it develops. This is at one of the schools I work at, but stones with quotes from his writings are popping up on university campuses here too.

Children's Day at the Botanical Garden

Some friends and I made the mistake of going to the Botanical Garden on Children's Day (1 June), a public holiday that naturally left the place bursting at the seems with people. I'm finally starting to realize that on any given day I can expect there to be lots of people out and about, and on holidays I can expect it to be absolutely crazy!

The Garden's small lakes were filled with paddle boats - such fun!

An unexpected surprise further back in the Botanical Garden! Thank God, it wasn't real...

As someone of Dutch heritage, checking out the Garden's tulips was a must!

Turtle Snatchers

I was walking along the Songhua a bit ago and thought these guys were taking a dip in the river. It turned out they were catching turtles, likely to go either to the over-crowded, incredibly inhumane pet shops or, worse, to the vendors selling tiny baby turtles and fish in key chains so that kids can have the delight of watching a little living creature die in their rattling key chains. There are so many wonderful things about China, but the general lack of any sort of empathy for animals - and even other human beings at times - can be pretty deeply disturbing. (Not a problem confined to China, unfortunately...)

Bedazzled Harbin

The bedazzled look is surprisingly popular here. This is just one of many stalls selling bedazzled (and other) hats at an indoor market ("Toulong International Commodity City") downtown on Toulong Street.

St. Sophia Storm Clouds

Yet another picture of my favorite place in Harbin, St. Sophia Cathedral, taken as a storm rolled into the city. (Cloud seeding is a popular thing here, and I've noticed we've had a much wetter spring than normal, with the rain coming down just when the air pollution has started to spike or a dust storm is sweeping in from the west.)