stillgoingnative » haerbin

harbin : retrospective photographics

tony — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:44:55 +0000

HIT dorm complex #2 : photo series

tony — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:45:53 +0000

Out for the next few days (tests, moving) – but here are some photo-grafs. I’ve spent a fair bit of time in China, and have not yet seen how local students live – it’s always been an item of fascinating, since they are rumored to placed 6-8 to a room (undergrads and grads). So the other day I sneak in, and take some pictures (infiltration instructions follow after the post).

I got permission for all of the room photographs I took. The residents were very jovial. Of note in the picture above: eight beds, two desks; all are third year undergraduate students. Eight people in a room!? However do college romances fare in such an environment? [s]exiling seven other dudes would be very complicated. As a result, hotels near campuses that charge for rooms by the hour do very good business. Also watch where you’re jogging at night – make sure it’s well lit.

The sign in the stairwell reads “I love [the] dorm. [I will] consider the dorm as my home.”

This particular building houses somewhere around 3,000 students, in 6 floors. I did not see any heating units, but there must be some in the rooms.

There are no showers in the building – those are located in a building a few minutes away. There are these washrooms, where people will wash their cothes in small basins, usually daily. Most of the students don’t have very large wardrobes while at school.

So, to get into someplace you aren’t supposed to be: enter as though you have a purpose. If / when called by the security guard, approach with confidence. Say, “I’m looking for … someone Wang… I forgot his first name – we just met and I promised I’d give him these papers?” the guard will inquire – indicate a room number at random, hoping you guess the format correctly. Act mildly concerned. When the guard takes out the registry book, watch carefully – you of course are looking for Mr. Wang since Wang is a common last name, and an easy character to recognize from a distance. After you spot someone named Wang, excitedly note: “Yes! That’s him! In room… 3008!” Everyone’s happy.

harbin : haze

tony — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:42:07 +0000

The other day when the weather forecast called for ’smoke’ I decided to wander out after class, and obtain visual documentation of the phenomenon. A large amount had lifted by that point, but I managed to get this photo – at the time it didn’t seem like anything special, but after messing with colors it turned into my favorite photo.

Harbin isn’t *as* ugly as I make it look. It certainly is dirty in places, but I’m smitten.

harbin gets cold. plants dry.

tony — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:40:44 +0000

From Haerbin, with uncharacteristically little editing. There are plants everywhere on the street – people are drying massive amounts of vegetables for the winter.

island adventure

tony — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:00:00 +0000

There’s an island in the middle of Songhua River inhabited (seasonally) by somewhat impoverished people (of all ages) who fish and don’t wear many clothes. There also appeared to be wild cannabis-looking plants on the island.

entertainment, haerbin photos

tony — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:01:04 +0000

Drop what you are doing right now and listen to this song. Numa Numa is huge here, in that there are dozens of remixes in numerous languages, played all the time. Chair dancing unfortunately is less of a hit.

I’ll also be out for the next four days, to the North Korean border. More Haerbin photos:

boat window. fortune door.

tony — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:05:42 +0000

On the way to “Naked False-Cannabis Island Adventure” (possible forthcoming photo series).

If you ever place a Fu on your door, be sure to turn it upside down, to indicate that fortune has already entered the premises.

haerbin : overpass, slum

tony — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:38:29 +0000

You can see a local playing Frogger in this shot:

And a more run down area not too far away:

stove pit thing

tony — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:54:16 +0000

mobile corn stove

tony — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:52:59 +0000

frogger

tony — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:06:51 +0000

This situation isn’t entirely unusual – it’s the near daily out of body experience one undergoes when crossing the street. I’m going to begin a new photo series with this very theme – so the obituary can have visual content.

Rush hour is actually safer than most times of the day – much less likely to be maimed by slower cars. Stage 2 takes place at night.

alliterative photos : bridge, bulletins, bike

tony — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:19:58 +0000

From various spots in Haerbin.

noodles. wallpaper

tony — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:33:09 +0000

In Beijing for the next ~4 days, watching people run around in circles, so blogging will resume next week. Until then, food: As another alternative to strictly Chinese food, Lanzhou or Xinjiang Noodles are an excellent choice. It’s basically the Pho of most Chinese cities. I’ve taken a liking to this particular shop, which isn’t far from the University. It’s run by a family of Muslims. It is interesting how some of the locals occassionally treat them – the other day I was eating and a gentleman next to me started asking one of the young girls “do you really speak common Mandarin? I don’t think you understood what I said. Why don’t you understand?” In these rare instances I become rather agitated, and tend to violate the prime directive and start engaging the individual in question, trying to determine if they are just mean people, or mean only to non-Han minorities. You find all sorts.

I liked this picture so much I even made desktops:

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Here’s a sample of the delicious hand-made noodles, for only 4Y:

fruits

tony — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:26:18 +0000

I find this picture oddly compelling. It’s also important to note the extensive availability of fruit here. The best prices can be found at mobile street-stalls like these:

more night stuff

tony — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:42:22 +0000

Haerbin has a long and fascinating history, and a good relationship with Russians. Here we see an important institution that underpins every significant Russian expat community – the neighborhood strip club / disco:

Another angle of the same building. And then some more neon lights / kitschy bar district: