A confluence of cultures and buildings

The China itinerary is taking shape. Shanghai, check. Beijing, check. Now, to Ha'erbin. "Ha'erbin?" you say? Yes, Ha'erbin. Located in the northeast of China, it is near to Russia and not that far from North Korea or Mongolia. The town itself is actually staggeringly big: 5 million people in the city center, 10 million people in the metropolitan area. The town prides itself on the Ice Lantern Festival, held in January each year when temperatures fall as low as -35 degrees Celsius. The highlight of the festival are intricate ice carvings made in large blocks of ice. I remember seeing some of these at the Winter Festival in Saint Paul when I was growing up.

But it's late May, which makes it pretty impossible to focus our time on ice carvings. Instead, we investigate the rich past of this city at a crossroads, especially it's architecture. The city was the site of the largest settlement of Jews in the Far East. It was and continues to be a trading city for Russians. And, of course, the Chinese population is substantial, with 80% of Ha'erbin's current populace being Han Chinese.

Signs of the Jewish population were scattered throughout the old city. Though the last Jewish resident died in 1986, there were two synagogues (not active) within walking distance of our hotel.

The older synagogue was a large building, with dramatic red and white stones. It had a prominent rooftop dome which still has a Star of David on top. Similar stars were present in every window. Current occupants have changed the tenor of the property somewhat. From our anecdotal look, there was a fashion studio, a childcare center, and a youth hostel.

Oh, and a pizza place! This pie selling joint was definitely not kosher, with several advertised pies heavy on the pork (a double no, with both pork and meat/milk combinations!) Nobody milling about seemed to take offense, however.

A second synagogue was built in 1921 on a main street. This was an imposing edifice, with nearly sheer walls leading up to its roof and (similar to the other synagogue) dome. It has been turned into a Jewish Museum with exhibits detailing the Ha'erbin Jewish experience.

Finally, there was a Jewish Middle School that has since been turned into a...middle school. No longer Jewish, though.

While no Jews live in Ha'erbin today, the spirit is present, as you can see in this ad posted on a exterior wall.

From the Russian perspective, there were a couple of prominent buildings as well as architectural marks left across town.

The most famous is the Church of St. Sophia, a stout brick structure with a large green dome. Really impressive in person, this church occupies much of a public square. The day we saw it, the square was being used as a large advertisement for a new kind of iced tea, which was being promoted by folks singing badly into improperly set up microphones. I don't know what St. Sophia would have thought of that.

In addition, there were buildings everywhere that carried some trace of Russian history. Take this yellow building, now part of the 7 Days Inn chain. The blue dome brings images of Moscow to this viewer's mind.

The current day Russian influence appeared to boil down to selling souvenirs, running discos, and having a couple of Russian food establishments. The various Russian souvenir emporia had every manner of knickknack, most of which must have been made in China.

Finally, the Chinese influence on architecture is not absent. In the east of the city, there is the combined complex of the Temple of Bliss and the Seven-Story Pagoda.

The temple complex was large, though had much more cement than other similar temple complexes I've seen in China and Japan. It did have some very neat 3D bas reliefs of famous warriors and gods.

The pagoda was an attractive building that lived up to its name of being seven stories. Looked at from a certain angle, the odd juxtaposition with a ferris wheel in the distance was a single view of ancient plus modern.

Smaller signs of Chinese heritage were scattered around, including this arresting dragon populating the middle of a roundabout intersection.

The mixture of different cultures was a fascinating element of my time in this quaint city (of 10 million people!)