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HARBIN

Harbin (Ha'erbin), capital of Heilongjiang, China's northernmost province, is a place of many contradictions. Travelers are faced with frequently cold and inhospitable climates, but comforted by a warm and friendly population, increasing huge and stark skyscrapers, but also winding streets of quaint, colonial architecture, and impressive Siberian Tiger conservation policies that are somewhat offset by hunting grounds where a variety of animals are killed for pleasure. These contradictory scenes continue back in time, so that the history of Harbin is one of turbulence and economic prosperity.
Nowadays this old Chinese outpost is a place not overly visited by travelers, despite the popular Ice Lantern Festival and the many other good reasons to visit. Anyone interested in history, Russian or Japanese architecture, skiing, tigers, or traveling on the Trans-Siberian Railway could do a lot worse than Harbin.
The city first came into being with the settlement, in 1097, of the Nazhen nationality. The place then was a natural, and cold, fishing area, situated right on the Songhua River. By the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368AD) the area was renamed Haerbin, literally meaning "where the fishing nets are dried".
It was later in the nineteenth century, however, that the city really began to thrive, and when the Russian influence, that was to remain and heavily dominate Harbin's history, began to take a hold. The Russian Tsar and Qing court agreed, in 1896, to the signing of a contract that granted the latter the right to build a railway from Dalian, through Harbin, to Vladivostok. By 1898, the city had become a Russian concession, with its own powerful Tsarist police force, as the Tsar continued to enforce his colonial plans for Manchuria, plans that were strengthened by the completion of the rail link in 1904. The Tsar was finally thwarted by the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) that ended with a shock victory for the belligerent and rapidly militarized Japan. The Japanese took over the railway. The city then swung between these two nations, the Russians returning in force to the city in 1917, mostly White Russians fleeing the newly established Bolshevik state, the Japanese taking control in 1932 as a part of their Manchukuo invasion, and the Soviets retaking the city in 1945 and remaining dominant here for almost ten years.
It was not until after the Cultural Revolution (when factional fighting made it almost impossible for anything to get done) that the city returned to its forte of rapid economic growth. Presently the population, about 3 million in the urban area, are concentrating on tourism, trading, heavy industry and some of the heaviest drinking in China...and the Russians are back in force.
The city now commemorates both historical trauma, some of the darkest pages of China's history are represented including Japanese atrocities at the Japanese Germ Warfare Experimental Base Museum and the many serious floods at the Flood Control Monument, as well as historical triumph, including the great Russian architecture in the northern Daoli District. For those a little daunted or unimpressed by these, there is skiing, hunting, leisure resorts on Sun Island Park and a Siberian Tiger Park for pleasure.

Tourist Attractions in Harbin:

Church of St. Sophia

The Russian influence in Harbin, including a continuing strong Russian population here, is no better felt than a wander around the streets that make up the Daoli district, in the northwest of the city. 

Among the many Orthodox churches and Russian style facades in this region, the St. Sophia Orthodox Church (Shengsuo feiya dajiaotang) is the most impressive, and imposing, structure.
In 1903, with the completion of the Sino-Russia railway, connecting Vladivostok to northeast China, the Russian No.4 Army Division arrived in this region. After Russia's shameful failure against the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), a plan to reconsolidate the confidence of the army by building a imposing spiritual symbol was proposed. Thus the magnificent St. Sofia Church was born, completed in 1907. Large scale expansion and renovation then started in 1923, and after a nine years' intensive job, the biggest Orthodox church in the far east was finally completed and stood much as it does today.
The 53m tall church is a perfect example of Byzantine architecture: the main structure of the church is laid out as a Latin Cross with the main hall topped with a huge green tipped roof. Under the bright sun, the church, together with the square around it, reminds the Chinese, bizarrely, of the Red Square in Moscow. Although there are still several hundred Orthodox believers in Harbin, the religious activities are usually conducted in other smaller churches. St. Sofia Church is nowadays used as the Municipal Architecture and Art Museum with exhibitions of the architectural history of the city, a photographic survey with captions all in Chinese.

Flood Control Monument & Stalin Park

The Flood Control Monument (Fanghong jinian tang) is located on the bank of Songhua River at the northern end of Zhongyang Street (Zhongyang dajie). The Monument is the centerpiece of the popular Stalin Park, built in 1958 to commemorate the tremendous feat of the Harbin people in controlling the massive flood of 1957. The flood was the biggest flood ever recorded in Harbin until the summer 1998 disaster.
The 13m tall monument consists of one Roman style cylinder column topped with statues of the heroic people of Harbin and a 7-meter-long curving corridor surrounding the column. The water level of 11 small semi-circular pools near to the column marks the level reached by the devastating flood in 1957. However, the water level record was again broken by the summer 1998 flood in which the monument witnessed the devastating destruction of nature and the great courage of the Harbin people...many paid with their lives. A new monument has been added on to the old to commemorate these new victims.
Stalin Park (Sidalin gongyuan) was built in 1953 and, as its name suggests, the park is evidence of the friendship, sometimes strained, between the two biggest communist countries at that time. The park is characterized by Russian style flower beds and a series of theme statues and is lavishly vegetated with flowers and trees. The river beach in the park serves as an ideal place for viewing the Songhua River and a natural swimming place for the Chinese, although the water is a good example of the state of China's rivers: less than clean. This place is very popular on the weekends.

Japanese Germ Warfare Base Museum

Further evidence of the dubious nature of the Japanese role during their occupation of parts of China in the 1930s and 40s is highlighted here in Harbin. 
The Japanese army took the city in 1932, part of the colonization policy that had already claimed Korea and other parts of the newly set up Manchukuo state (Manchuria) with its puppet emperor. 
Many Japanese historians even today refute much of the evidence that has been mounting up since the war years, although it is now fairly commonly accepted that the strictly drilled Japanese forces and seemingly polite civilians were less than civil.
The Japanese Germ Warfare Experimental Base (Riben xijun shiyan jidi) was set up in 1939 to "research", presumably, the capabilities of the soul and the endurance of the human body. Run by the Japanese army's Unit 731 (Qi san yao budui), the research center experimented upon many of the captives of the viscous war in Northeast Asia, including Soviet, Korean, British, Mongolian and mostly Chinese prisoners of war (POWs). As with other examples of the demonic brutality that such oppressive authoritarian societies can be stretched to doing, from Auschwitz to Nanjing, the Germ Warfare Experimental Base nowadays shows little of the grisly senselessness that its recent past should emphasize. The sight is said to have witnessed the execution of over 3000 POWs in the most horrific way: frozen, bombed, roasted, infected, injected, dissected...alive until dead.
Almost as chilling and sad as the events themselves is the umbrella of denial that now has spread over much of this period of history, with allegations and misinformation coming from many sides. Just before the 1945 retake of the city by the Soviets the Japanese apparently did their utmost to cover up the evidence of this area, blowing up the site. Allegedly, the Americans also gave the Japanese scientists who worked in the base, prominent in their respective fields, immunity from prosecution in return for research findings. It was not until the 1980s that a Japanese journalist published his findings of the role of the army in the Northeast that, seemingly, the whole truth came out. Nowadays many Chinese are adamant, and with good but possibly overzealous reasons, in their hatred of the Japanese. "Is said to", "apparently", "allegedly", "seemingly", "possibly" are words that appear with frequent maddening regularity here.
The museum that now commemorates this site is situated near to the spot that the original base stood, some 30km south-west of Harbin, near to the little town of Pingfang. The site is interesting for those into history, although the museum is small (two rooms) and has, see above, little evidence of the true past. There are, however, a few photographs, with Chinese captions, and the unearthed site of the original base that could be worth a look.

Jile Temple

Jile Temple (Jile si) is one of the four most important Buddhist temples in northeast China. The temple is characterized by its age, its architecture and its lay out and all are designed strictly after the Chinese Buddhist style. 

The temple is therefore looked upon as the model for visitors to understand and appreciate the art of Chinese temple building.

The temple was built in 1920 by Master Yanxu, a famous disciple of the Tiantai Buddhist clan. The complex of the temple consists of the Heavenly King's Hall, the Grand Hall, the Three Bodhisattva Hall, and the Buddhist Book Storage Hall. The main halls are fronted by a Drum Tower and a Bell Tower and other subordinate structures. The most imposing building of the temple is probably the Futu Pagoda on the eastern tip of the grounds, a 37m tall stone structure building dotted with caves engraved with Buddhist embossed sculptures. At the bottom of the pagoda is a large hall with Buddhist statues.Every 8th, 18th and 28th of April according to the lunar calendar, major Buddhist festivals are held in the temple. Massive rites and celebrations are organized, while the temple area is surrounded with bazaars and various folk activities.

Sun Island Park

The Sun Island Park (Taiyangdao gongyuan) consists of one big island and some smaller islands in the Songhua River, which meander through the north of Harbin. 
This natural island is the biggest recreational center in Harbin and as such can be highly popular in the summer months and during the ice festival.
The island covers a total area of 3,800 hectares of leisure resources, including the interesting Siberian Tiger Park.

In summer, the island serves as a natural river beach swimming resort and sanatorium area. The island boasts several fine beaches on either bank, a profusion of lakes for boating, swimming pools, sunbathing facilities, a fairground, a water world and an arms museum, to name but a few. The middle and northern part of the island is composed of mainly forested areas and a large garden. Various different styled recreational buildings were built around the "Sun Lake" and the "Lotus Pond". With hidden paths winding throughout, the park is a nice area to stroll and try to get away from the crowds, lushly vegetated with trees and flowers. Barbecues and picnics can also be arranged in one of the meadows here.
During wintertime, when the island is gracefully covered with snow, the Sun Island is used as the playground for various winter sports. Skiing, Hockey, Ice-skating, and Sledding games are all organized here. More importantly, the renowned annual Snow Carving Festival is held here.
The Park also contains the Siberian Tiger Park at its northern tip, a good, but sometimes a little gruesome, way to see these rapidly dwindling species. There are apparently over twenty of these beautiful and powerful beasts here, being bred in the hope of being returned to the wild. If you are lucky, you may get to see a feeding session, where little hopping rabbits, live lucking chickens, prancing deer and fatty calves are "captured" and devoured. This is certainly not for the faint hearted. The park can be reached by either a 20 minute bus/minibus ride from the pier (RMB40) or a taxi from the north, over the Song Wan Jeung Gong Road Bridge (Song wan jeung gonglu daqiao). Entrance fees are RMB30 for a 30 minute tour.

Yabuli Ski Resort

The Yabuli Ski Resort (Yabuli huaxue chang) is located in Shangzhi city, a county city about 150km east of Harbin. As a subrange of the Changbai Mountain Range (Changbai shan), the resort is one of the best natural skiing resorts in China. 
The area enjoys an average annual temperature of minus 1 degrees C., the freezing period of the region being often as long as six months, from October to April. The snow depth averages 39cm and gets up to 60cm in high altitude regions.
The Resort is currently not only the biggest but also the best established and facilitated skiing resort in China. The 3800m long main skiing trail here is located at an altitude of 1300m. Cable car lifts are available. The whole resort is surrounded by imposing mountain ranges lavishly covered with pine forests. Besides the spectacular view, wild animals are also frequent sights on the resort. In February 1996, the Yabuli Ski Resort hosted the third Asian Winter Sports Games, the biggest winter sports event ever held in China.
The Heilongjiang International Ski Festival takes place from December 5th to January 5th and at this time the resort is filled with skiiers and tourists. Get your skis on!

Yuquan Hunting Ground

Yuquan Hunting Ground (Yuquan shouliechang) is currently the biggest close hunting ground in China. It is located to the west of Harbin, on the sub range of the Changbai Mountain (Changbaishan).
With a total area of 3000 hectares, the hunting ground enjoys a forest coverage of 80 percent and has seventeen peaks all over 3000m. 
Clean streams and rare plants can be found throughout the region, which is home to various specious of wildlife including goats, deer and rabbits. 
Please remember to leave those Siberian Tigers alone. Besides hunting, the resort also provides lodging in its uniquely designed traditional hunter's wooden domes, skiing, barbecue and horse riding.
This is perhaps not the nicest of activities that is to be had in China, although hunting is not the only thing that can be done here. It is also only to be considered for those with a bit of wealth on their hands, there are a few heavy expenses to be considered beyond travel, accommodation and food, most importantly a variable per animal fee.