Harbin Summer

[kungpao_chicken]

It nearly didn't happen but I was able to spend 5 weeks there recently. It was a nice change of weather from the Beijing Humidity. Not a tourist city, people just live here, and because of that prices were very low. I was there explicitly for mandarin lessons and I definitely chose a place with little disctractions. The driving is the same up there so there's nowhere safe for pedestrians in China

I like the Dongbei food, especially up there since they have the best vegetables in all of China. A personal favorite was a squash like thing called xi hu lu. It has a name like the antagonist in a Godzilla film but is excellent in soup and guo lao.

I took lessons at that 1and1 Mandarin Workshop. I think enough has been said in previous threads, but I would highly recommend it for a beginner like me. Being able to stop the class and review and ask questions made it much easier for me. Having an enthusiastic teacher always kept it interesting. You can PM me for his info. I dont eat pork or beef so having a school aunt to cook me breakfast and lunch everyday was terrific, I would highly recommend eating her cooking over the restaurants.

Even though it's no Beijing or Shanghai, there were interesting things to witness if you look hard enough. I would avoid the gondola as they institute Wàibīn prices and its not worth it. Can't say if I will ever make it out there again or not, but if you want to learn real standard Mandarin and are serious you can't do much better.

Photos I took of Harbin:

Find more here

[grawrt]

wow you took such beautiful pictures, they look more like art than photos!!

It's always nice to read feedback about the program! the more I read about it the more I want to study there this winter. (which I MIGHT do despite how crazy it sounds).

What do you feel you improved most in the 5 weeks?? I was planning on spending that same amount of time so I was just wondering if it was worthwhile.

[Matty]

:grawrt

Winter in Harbin for 5 weeks? I don't recommend it.

Harbin is good for a 1 week visit in winter for the Ice Festival, it can be quite beautiful, but other than that I think you'd be better off going in any other season without -20*C temperatures. You'll spend most of your time inside.

I live there for 5 years and am going back soon I hope. But for a 5 week stint, I'd recommend somewhere not so cold.

:kungpao_chicken

You have some quite beautiful photos there, I wish I had such photographic talent.

[kungpao_chicken]

Thank you for the comments. As Matty said, only do Harbin in the winter if you are a tough guy or girl I am orginally from Detroit so cold and a little snow wouldn't scare me off. Plus I feel thats when the culture of the city is at it's highest. I really hope to spend some time one winter up there.

I concentrated strictly on spoken chinese with a little character recognition. It's impossible to get too far with speaking without some reading. In that time I learn basics like where I was from, what is my name, how much is that thing, I want to eat this or that, where is this building, the cinema is down the street on the right, what is your age, how is the weather, etc. After you learn the phonetics its starts making sense right away. I used an online flashcard tool called quizlet: http://quizlet.com/user/kungpao/ I will finish up the rest of the lessons from the first book soon. This tool made it easy to practice and learn on my own. My teacher would go through the vocabulary and I would record it with my ipod to use as reference later on. I gave him all the files so if you end up doing the same route I did, you will have nice reference and training materials to go by now on.

[Brian US]

I'd love to make it back to Harbin during the non winter months after going to the ice festival this year. As a fellow Michiganian, I enjoy the cold and I actually over prepared with all the layers. Every little shop in Harbin is heated, so to some extent I found it more bearable than sitting in an unheated noodle shop in Beijing.

Awesome pictures by the way.

[WestTexas]

Personally I feel like the nightlife is a little bit dead in Harbin. There are a few good bars and everyone in the bars knows each other. Also the smog is really bad in the winter. This time of year it's quite nice though. You can go to a beer garden and drink outside while eating mediocre and overpriced food, or just hit the Walmart by the Stalin monument, grab a bag full of beer, and binge drink by the river. There's also an exceptional Russian restaurant by the river which is usually full of Russians, so I guess it's authentic. It certainly tasted delicious to me.

[Brian US]

I thought heavy drinking in a frozen climate was a given. What happened at the 2011 Ice Festival, stays at the 2011 Ice Festival..including my deposit for the ice bikes.

[roddy]

Ah, fond memories of walking on the frozen Songhua. Right up to the point where I walked over the thinner ice around a sewage outlet and had to walk backwards very very slowly. Great city, but you don't want to turn up unprepared in winter - people really do get off the train and turn right around and get back on.

[abcdefg]

I went there in July and August three years ago and found it to be a congenial place. Studied at 1 to 1 Mandarin workshop and was well pleased.

西葫芦 = xī húlu = zucchini

[kungpao_chicken]

@abcdefg: I thought that was all it was. They dont taste like that in California. Thanks for the info!

[abcdefg]

They call them 小瓜 = xiǎo guā here in Kunming, but I think they are the same vegetable.