The Story of an Amazing Day in Harbin

Today was possibly the best day I've had in China so far! It actually started last night during the show, when someone had the brilliant proposal of a Game Night after the (rather early) show. We all got together in Uncle Max's room and played Celebrity, Mafia, and Encore, until the cows came home. It was great fun! We slept late this morning, which was necessary after last night, then I met Uncle Max (John), Mother Abbess (Anissa), Liesl (Maddy), Frau Schmidt (Emily), and Sister Margaretta (Rebecca) to eat lunch and go out for the day.

We ate at a delicious Russian face -- non-Asian food at last! I had some beef and cabbage red Russian soup, which tasted like a really good minestrone ... I could have eaten that for days! I also had mashed potatoes with herb sauce, and a piroshiki, which was a ball of bread filled with spiced, minced meat. We all shared some Russian bread and pickles, as well. All very good, and way too much food for us! I left feeling so satisfied, and without that slightly sick feeling that I sometimes get from questionably-hygienic Chinese food.

After that, we wandered down the walking/shopping street and peered into some neat little Russian stores selling Kachina (sp?) dolls, watches, jewelry, porcelain dolls, lighters, flasks, and USA military gear. We purchased a few things, including an awesome pocket watch for Greg, who lost his watch in Shanghai. This one has a picture of a horse warrior on the cover (the horse is the warrior -- not a warrior ON a horse), and looks sort of old-fashioned and rustic. When you open it up, the inside is fluorescent green! A brilliant find. We haven't given it to him yet, so keep this to yourself.

We kept walking until we came to the river, and there we bought tickets for a riverboat that circles the water and stops on the other side. It was a really nice day way up north here, not nearly as hot as the rest of Asia, so it was the perfect weather for a river cruise. We got off on the other side, and I believe our ticket was for a round trip, but we had other plans for our return. There was a neat park at the other side of the river, so we wandered around and looked at different options, until we came across tandem bicycles and three-person bicycles. Clearly, as there were six of us, we needed to rent two of these bikes and go for a ride, so we did! Let me tell you something: three-person bikes are scary! I rode with Rebecca and Maddy, and I was sitting in the middle, being the most awful backseat driver (biker), because I really just did not trust Maddy (steering) not to crash and kill us. It was a wobbly and loud ride. Toward the end of our allotted half hour, something happened to the front chain, so Maddy could no longer pedal, and suddenly the ride got better! I don't know why, really. Rebecca and I pedaled from the back, and Maddy steered, and it was an excellent balance of power. We took the bike back and got off before we were at the rental place, so they wouldn't see Maddy not pedaling, and wouldn't keep our deposit. We didn't break it, I tell you! They were fooled.

After that, three Chinese men approached us and signaled that they wanted to take photos with us. This happens pretty often here in China, but it's not often that they have enormous Chinese flags and Olympic flags, which they give us to hold for the photo! We were really representing China, and they took many photos -- and then we started taking photos as well! Great times were had by all.

Later we had some downtime, waiting for another group of our people to come across the water and meet us, because they wanted to take the cable cars back with us. A note: cable cars in China are not the cable cars (like trolleys, but electric, which ride on the ground) you see in San Francisco. A cable car in China is a little box that rises high on a cable into the sky and then travels along the cable, in the manner of a ski lift. We took one of those to cross back over the river! I thought it would be scary, looking at it from below, but it actually wasn't scary at all, and was really fun to be so high and to see Harbin from above. It's a really great city, possibly my favorite city so far (except for the lack of a Starbucks anywhere! How strange).

On the other side, we split up because some people wanted to go right home, some wanted to do more exciting things like ride a ferris wheel, and Maddy and I wanted to wander along the shopping street until it got dark. And we did! We went into every Russian store we found, until we discovered that they all sell the same things: Kachina (sp?) dolls, watches, jewelry, porcelain dolls, lighters, flasks, and USA military gear. All of them. Finally, after a bit more wandering, we caught a cab and returned to our hotel.

Tomorrow we fly to Nanning, down in the south, so this was a perfect day to end our stay in lovely Harbin, China!