This summer, I returned to a city in Heilongjiang province that I had already visited around ten years ago. It is full of crumbling heavy industry and has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. It’s located two hours by car from the Siberian border, and in some ways feels Siberian. This time of the year it’s hot and humid. I’ve never been in winter, but everyone mentions how brutally cold it is.
- Men will pull their T-shirts up to expose their bellies in hot weather. It’s a good idea but I still won’t do it because nobody needs to see my belly
- Little consideration is given to how nice and tidy roadsides and residential buildings look. Europe cares the most and the U.S. are somewhere in between
- Police are everywhere and very visible. Many are not armed and appear to be a benign presence, as far as this can be judged from the outside
- There’s a fair amount of paranoia. Flying into the provincial airport in Heilongjiang province, we were told to close our window shades 15 minutes before landing, and this was strictly enforced until we had landed and the seatbelt sign was off. The reason was probably a close by military airport
- Being white, I was frequently talked to in Russian. Many buildings and restaurants are labeled in both Chinese and Russian but not in English
- I didn’t see any other white people, or any ethnicity besides Asian, during my four day stay
- People in this part of China are keen to talk with strangers despite the language barrier
- There is a disinfectant with a distinct smell that is ubiquitously used in China. I encountered it everywhere during my visit but don’t remember smelling it anywhere else
- Most kids at the playground are there without any siblings. It’s rare to see families with two small kids, and I didn’t see any larger than that
- Playgrounds are less safe than in the U.S. but also not so bad that
- We went to a fun fair. It wasn’t that different from the American equivalent
People seem to spend more time socializing in parks and each other’s homes than in America - A lot of loudspeakers on full volume everywhere, playing music or sometimes what sounds like slogans
- A lot of murals showing scenes from the Chinese Civil war and the war against the Japanese
- Not as many electric vehicles as I’d have expected, and definitely fewer than in California or Europe
- Crossing the street, even at zebra crossings, remains an adventure
- Unlike in other countries, it’s common to see female construction workers
- People tie red ribbons to their cars’ tires for good luck and safe driving
- I only heard negative things about Chinese car brands like Geely. The best opinion I encountered was “the interior is nice, but the engine still sucks.” Most cars are German or Japanese
- Speed limits are arbitrary and not observed. I saw 20 km/h signs in the country without any apparent reason, and people were rightly ignoring them going 80
- The attitude towards drinking has changed in the last 10 years. Previously, men would drink a lot of strong liquor and it didn’t take long before I did the same. Now, there’s less pressure to drink and designated drivers don’t drink at all. I was told there’s a zero tolerance policy against drink driving
- Someone told me “people around here don’t care about Beijing and its silly rules”
Nehaveigur 