Don and I returned on January 1 from our BYU Teachers' Tour to Harbin in the northeast of China. We are recovering!
Truly, it was brutally cold even for we Canadians (mini 25-30 degrees, with a constant breeze). Edmonton is twinned with Harbin, and it is a perfect match.
It was a remarkable 3 days.
Harbin is a large city with unique characteristics. It hosts one of the 4 largest ice and snow festivals in the world, Quebec City is one of the main 4. The first night at the ice festival was too cold to enjoy and I wondered how 1 million tourists could ever enjoy it. And yet they were. The next day was better as I put on PJs under my clothes, etc. Don showed me how to tie a scarf so my face was covered. The snow sculptures were truly works of art and amazing. Many were commemorating the Manchu culture of the region. Then we saw the Siberian tigers, and they were simply magnificent. Huge, and prowling around outside of cages. There were dozens. The white tiger was something to behold. There are only 200 left and they are perfectly camouflaged in the snow. Siberian tigers are the largest tiger, but are not man-eaters like the Bengal tiger. They looked like that could easily do the job though.
This will leave a few curious learners wanting to investigate.
Harbin has been called the "Paris of the East," because of its European architecture resulting from great Russian influence. It had a large Russian and Jewish population during the 20th century. This is the end of a Russian railroad and both groups were escaping problems at home. Manchuria was a good place to move to. Rich black soil. Isolated.
The local Manchu culture is making a resurgence. The people of Manchuria (Jurchen people and then called Manchus) ruled China after their conquest of the Ming Dynasty. They were the last dynasty and have largely merged culturally with the Han (Chinese) people. You could see a different gene pool operating in the area. The people were taller, often with a classic long, oval face and a stronger nose. The women were striking, compared to a soft, feminine beauty. I could easily believe that they were, and still are, rugged horsemen and formidable warriors.
Harbin was one of the most interesting places that we have ever visited. Flying back to Beijing was like flying over a vast snow covered plain, like Saskatchewan. Then a mountain range divides Beijing from the northeast.
China is such a fascinating and diverse country.
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