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Post by Meihou Wang on Aug 13, 2006 12:48:28 GMT 7
Anyone know about this place? I found 2-3 bad reviews from over a year ago, but not much else. Any insights would be helpful!
Also, if you have anything to add about Harbin in general, your view of the locale would certainly help.
Muchas Garcias,
*~Meihou Wang~*
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Post by Hamish on Aug 13, 2006 12:53:52 GMT 7
Do you like COLD weather?
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Post by Meihou Wang on Aug 13, 2006 16:47:51 GMT 7
Well, Harbin is the sister city to my hometown (Minneapolis). They're both on the same latitude (45'). And both have climates very similar to one another.
The cold i can handle. The question is:Does anyone know anything at all about the school itself? *~Meihou Wang~*
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Post by Meihou Wang on Aug 13, 2006 16:56:31 GMT 7
Can you describe Harbin beyond its cold weather? What is the city like?
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Post by George61 on Aug 13, 2006 17:19:27 GMT 7
Better ask Non-Dave about that. He is our current resident expert.
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Post by Dajiang on Aug 25, 2006 13:58:43 GMT 7
I remembered seeing their ad up the job board at Dave's very often.
Figured that couldn't be a good sign.
Otherwise, Harbin is nice enough.
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Post by phets72 on Aug 25, 2006 17:32:14 GMT 7
Hi Guys,
I am currently located four hours north of Harbin in a town called Hailun. I head off to Harbin each weekend and through enjoy doing so. Lots of western amentities (sound like a brochure for an apartment!) KFC, MACers and is home to the longest shopping strip in China - shopping is pretty amazing including the food and lots of foreigners, lots of Russians coming over the border all year roun and as a foreigner you will probably get misidentified as one. The winter is very brutual getting around - 25 degrees and lasts about six months, but the summer is wonderful. I arrived late February and will head home to Australia at the end of this year and will only get a small portion of the winter (thankgoodness). I haven't heard of the school as their are alot in Harbin, so doing some research on the internet is probably your best bet. If you want any further info about Harbin please PM me. thanks Steph
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Post by Raoul Duke on Aug 26, 2006 16:07:51 GMT 7
Harbin is indeed a cool city to be in. The long ongoing interaction with Russia gives it a unique and exotic character. The wonderful Ice Festival is definitely one added reason to spend a year there. However, phets' -25 winter temperature is an AVERAGE, and maybe a slightly kind one at that. When I lived in that region of China I saw MANY overnight lows under -40; the coldest I personally saw was -52. Now THAT's cold....  |
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Post by Miss Motz on Aug 26, 2006 16:51:04 GMT 7
holy guacamole -52 .......I'm volunteering for that kinda coldness...can you even get warm??
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Post by Hamish on Aug 26, 2006 17:03:50 GMT 7
Remember that when last Raoul was there he was hunting Hairy Mammoths for a living.
Latest climate data
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Avg. Temperature
0 11 26 46 59 71 75 70 59 43 23 6
Avg. Max Temperature
8 21 35 57 69 81 83 79 70 53 31 15
Avg. Min Temperature
-11 -1 14 33 46 59 66 61 46 32 13 -3
Avg. Rain Days
0 0 1 4 8 7 9 8 5 5 0 0
Avg. Snow Days
5 3 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 4
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Post by Miss Motz on Aug 26, 2006 19:14:34 GMT 7
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Post by Raoul Duke on Aug 26, 2006 23:09:38 GMT 7
True enough...global warming has modified things since I was there.  I was also in Changchun, which although it's further south it's actually very slightly colder than Harbin. Emphasis on "very slightly". Maybe I was just there for a hard winter, too, but I have memories of pre-dawn lows of -35 to -45 not being especially unusual. Don't worry, Motzie, you can get warm. Indeed, in some ways Dongbei winters were easier, at least indoors, than they are in the Shanghai area. You get used to wearing lots of layers and you invest in heavy-duty outdoor wear. Wool clothes and down-filled coats can be bought surprisingly cheaply in Dongbei. Your apartment should be fairly tight and well-insulated. It should have steam radiators and wall-mounted electric heaters; investing in a few small space heaters is also not a bad idea. You eat a lot of hot pot and you drink a few fortifying nips. Lack of water was actually a bigger hardship than the cold. Almost all of Dongbei is bone dry; my girlfriend at the time was from Hunan and she was absolutely aghast to find out what tap water costs up there. I dunno...Harbin may be a bit better for this than Changchun was if you don't mind a bit of benzene.  Make DAMN SURE your apartment gets 24-hour running water; under no circumstances should you ever accept housing that doesn't have this...if you haven't experienced it you just can't imagine how much it sucks to only have water twice a day. I'm serious...if you can't get the water don't sign the contract. Also watch the water heaters in your apartments. You at least want an automatic electric inline-tank-type heater, the bigger the better. These only allow a short lukewarm shower before running out and going cold. It's very common to find the horrible gravity-feed heaters in Dongbei. It's a small plastic tank on your bathroom wall that has a hose and shower head attached. To take a shower you fill the tank with a gallon or two of water; you wait about 20 minutes for the water to heat, and then you "shower" under a 3-minute dribble of water powered only by gravity... you have to sit to wash your hair or the shower head gets higher than the tank and the flow stops. Never, never take an apartment with one of these. I never saw the flow-through gas heaters that are so common down this way, I guess because water is so scarce and expensive in Dongbei. It's too bad because nothing is better at driving away the winter chill than a long hot shower! Unfortunately, the only way to get one of those in Dongbei is to check into a hotel...  Oh, how I do love Suzhou.  |
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Non-Dave
Barfly
Try Not! Do - or Do Not... There Is No Try!
Posts: 701
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Post by Non-Dave on Aug 27, 2006 6:56:29 GMT 7
A winter in Harbin will do wonders for your character. Coming from sub-tropical Queensland I was a little apprehensive about it, but figued it was all part of the "China Adventure" and in hindsight I'm glad I had the experience.
Harbin is a beautiful place if snow is a novelty for you. The Ice and Snow Festival is a true wonder and although it is the coldest I have ever been it is worth the experience.
Mostly you don't stand out in the cold (for long). The apartments are all really well heated and you'l be nice and toasty inside. All the classrooms are heated, all the shops are heated.
Good quality warm clothes are cheap and you'll get used to dressing in layers.
Harbin is okay with 24 hour water supply, but in the smaller towns it sometimes just doesn't exist. Both my apartments in Hailun had water storage tanks in the ceiling of the bathroom, which gave the same result as 24 hour water. Definitely make sure you have one of these...
Winter is also a great time to experience Hot Pot - a wonderful, warm and filling way to spend a few hours eating and getting to know the locals. They don't like cold beer in winter though and even though it's kept in the refrigerator it's warm (they don't turn on the refrigerators, they use them as warmers to stop the food & drink getting too cold). I would usually get them to put the bottle out front of the shop for 5 minutes - then you have lovely, icy cold beer!
The coldest part of the winter is during the holidays, so you don't have to deal with all this while juggling classes.
If you want an experience that is totally unique and you are a bit brave I'd totally recommend Harbin and the surrounding areas. The Dongbei girls are stunningly beautiful - sorry ladies, the boys are just normal Chinese.
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Post by Dr. Gonzo on Aug 27, 2006 9:54:00 GMT 7
Wonderful weather reports. I suspect the OP is long gone, failing to get any feedback on one of China's millions of schools.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Aug 27, 2006 15:00:54 GMT 7
No, I think he's still around. Hope so.
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