I gave up... What a wuss part 3: Harbin

So we got to Harbin and wheeled out of the front entrance. There was a big square and ooh look about 50 kfc's, and thousands of people trying to charge you ridiculous prices to take you somewhere in their car. We wandered around for ages looking for the hostel, me feeling gradually more lost and panicky, wheeling around a massive bag and getting very strange local looks. We found the hostel. It was then that we realised we weren't staying at the hostel. I had stupidly assumed that we were staying there rather than actually looking at the tickets. Yup, I'm an idiot. So they ordered us a cab to take us to the hotel we were ACTUALLY staying at... which turned out to be pretty much opposite the station (the hotel Maxima if I remember rightly) where our passports were taken away again. But this place was different. This place was posh.

Isolated in out little room, we discovered the delight of Chinese TV, mainly the circus acts program which turned into regular viewing of an evening. We spent 2 full days here, one day we just explored and found the river and found some guy who said he was a tourist official in the local government who was going to hook us up with a horse-drawn carriage across the frozen river to the ice festival, and showed us to a very VERY cheap restaurant where we had a nice meal, then we walked back to the hotel. At some point I tried and failed to get some money out... which was worrying as I was relying on that card to get money out throughout the trip. Thinking back, that happened somewhere back in Moscow too... fun fun! Oh well. We also discovered some genius public amenities by the river, next to some flats. It was like a kids playground, but with stuff for grownups, like crosstrainers and pullup bars, loads of them! And some table-tennis tables of course.

Whilst going around the "eurocentre" shopping centre we were spotted from below by what turned out to be a magazine photographer who, obviously bedazzled by Alex, proceeded to take photos of us in front of the freshly opened, or so I gathered, shopping mall. There were several more such small incidents here; Alex really is startlingly tall compared to pretty much everyone in China.

Driving here is worth a mention. I am nearly sure that any given taxi driver in that city could give professional rally drivers a run for their money over any terrain. We experienced skillful control sliding over black ice around corners, much well-judged horn use and a good level of speed.

On the second day, we went to the ice festival over the river. We actually walked across the frozen river. I have never been so cold in my life!! Seriously, my mouth-guard thingey was frozen when we got there, and I actually enjoyed coffee for the first time in my life. In a cafe made of snow!! The ice festival wasn't really a festival when we visited. It was more of a pretty much deserted park with snow sculptures lining the paths and an ice palace under construction somewhere in the middle. Very scenic, very icy... lots of ice... there were some very cool sculptures. Ha. Your frosty reception of the pun is anticipated, and acknowledged. There were Americans somewhere. We took a horse and carriage back across the river and ate a slightly more expensive meal on the way back to the hotel.

That night I woke up and my pulse was like 120 and Alex said I was "radiating cold." I seriously thought I was going to die, I panicked and went downstairs and eventually made them understand about an ambulance, but decided against it as I didn't seem to be actually falling over and choking, so I went upstairs and treated the main symptom; I had a 3am very hot bath, at the suggestion of an Alex. It worked, but still I think this was the incident that scared me the most and was one of the main reasons that I went home again.

One last thing to mention; whilst here we visited 3 shopping malls and didn't buy a thing. The next day involved some more exploring, a crowded and slightly hostile restaurant, and an American doctor who had been traveling for 3 months and seen 32 Chinese cities. Then we got on the sleeper to Beijing which was very slick, with complimentary TV and it didn't kill us with heat, but we were asleep most of the time so we missed some really nice views apparently... but yea. Then we got to Beijing.