Quick Mini-Breaks in China – Part 5

Harbin, Inner Mongolia, and Xiamen: Three more great getaways in China.

Tired, sweaty, need a break? Want to get away and see a bit of China while you’re in the area? Here are three more great mini-break destinations in China. And because the weather is heating up, in this blog entry we’ll take a look at two destinations that are cool in both temperature and attitude, as well as one summery beach option for anyone seeking a tan.

Harbin

Eclectic customs, wild festivals, oddly appetizing food and kitschy tourist attractions: if you think Chinese culture is just a little bit crazy, imagine mixing the awesome oddity of China with the mind-bending antics of Russia. Although China + vodka sounds like a recipe for disaster, Harbin’s special flavor of weird draws huge crowds. This northern Chinese city is closer to Pyongyang and Vladivostok than it is to Beijing, so there is just about as much North Korea-loving, rugged Russian mountainman influence in Harbin as any one city can possibly hold.

Harbin is unique in its geographic position as well as its average temperatures - the mercury falls below freezing for a good portion of the year. Still, visitors will be delightfully surprised by the vivacity of life in Harbin; in fact, the Heilongjiang province’s  biggest tourist season is the dead of winter during the Snow Festival, the centerpiece of which is an ice castle, lighted by LED’s to create a rainbow-bright ice village.

Another point of interest near Harbin is the Siberian Tiger Park, where hundreds of these endangered big cats are bred for conservation. Animal parks and zoos in China have a sketchy past, and this one is no less controversial, offering visitors the option to buy live chickens, ducks, and even cows (yeah, you read that correctly!) to feed to the tigers; all in the name of keeping the cats active and “wild.”

And for proof of the Russian influence (besides the abundant vodka and the fact that so much of the population speaks Russian as a second language), check out the century-old, onion-domed St. Sophia Cathedral. For proof that Harbin is also a modern Chinese city, visit the museum inside the Science and Technology University Park. And for the iron-stomached visitor, the Germ Warfare Museum is interesting, if fairly anti-Japanese in its propaganda-style exhibits. Or, a visitor may be just as happy strolling around the Old Quarter to see a nice display of some of Harbin’s unrestored Russian architecture.

Skiing is not a big sport in the rest of China, but in Heilongjiang it is a different story. Just 70 kilometers outside Harbin is the Deer Flat Mountain Ski Resort, with lifts, rentals, lodges and plenty of hotels to get your ski or snowboarding fix. It’s also possible to head further out of the city to Yabuli for what is considered the best skiing in China, and some of the best in Asia. Just remember to bring plenty of warm clothes, as Harbin is cool all year long, and absolutely frigid in winter. And to warm up and ease those sore muscles, Harbin has several bathhouses; from cheap and cheerful to outrageously luxurious. Indeed, when it comes to accommodation in this city of about 10 million, there is every sort of hotel, motel and hostel to fit any budget.

Getting to Harbin is best done by plane, and there is an international airport 45 minutes outside the city center.

Inner Mongolian Steppe

From one rough and ready destination to another, Inner Mongolia is nearly as cold as Harbin in winter, and possibly twice as testosterone filled. While a good portion of the population is now ethnically Han Chinese, the Mongol past of this area is still evident at every turn. Mongolian is an official language and while the larger cities will not be dissimilar to most other third-tier Chinese cities, where the Inner Mongolia’s culture really comes alive is out on the steppes where the locals keep Genghis Khan’s memory alive with horsemanship, barechested wrestling matches, and plenty of archery.

Lots of locations have bowed to the almighty tourist industry’s money, with culture shows, horseback tours, model villages and the like, but there are more than a few families who still live the traditional nomadic lifestyle that has been part of the region for more than a thousand years.

Getting out onto the steppes is best accomplished via a tour agent, but in doing so it’s a good idea to look for one that feeds back into the local economy, using local services, guides and handlers, and is sensitive to the traditional culture and its people. Finding such a tour agent can be tricky, but most hotels and hostels will have connections.

Flights are available from major cities around China to Hohhot and Baotou, and depending on regions you want to visit - be it the grasslands, highlands or desert - you should choose your arrival point accordingly. A flight from Beijing is just one hour.

Bear in mind that Inner Mongolia is huge, so seeing it all on a single short trip is impossible, but getting a taste of the autonomous region, its culture and people is very doable. If you have a bit more time, there are seven municipal airports that can make covering a lot of ground very easy in order to see more of the province.

Another option is to take the train. From the carriage window you will be able to see lots of incredible scenery in its vast emptiness. Just be sure to book a day train. The Trans-Mongolian Railway runs the length of Inner Mongolia, connecting most major settlements and departing from Beijing to Siberia in Russia, though the entire ride is a serious time commitment.

Xiamen

For a much less intense quick getaway experience, consider Xiamen in warm, southern Fujian Province. It is no domestic tourist mecca, and it won’t be on too many foreign tourist’s itineraries either, but Xiamen does have some nice coastline and even a few beaches, so if you close your eyes you could imagine you are world away. Otherwise, Xiamen is famous for seafood and it doesn’t get much fresher anywhere in China.

For history buffs, Xiamen, much like Shanghai, Tianjin and Qingdao, was formerly occupied by westerners as a trading hub, and today there is still some European architecture from the early 20th century. There is also easy hiking very near the city in the surrounding mountains, and Xiamen is a downright cheap destination when compared to China’s bigger cities. Hotels abound and Xiamen is connected daily from all major cities via air, or you can take a seven to eight hour train from Shanghai.

Xiamen is also the easiest and closest port of call to visit Taiwan. The Taiwanese island of Jindao/Kindao is just a few kilometers away, or you can take the four hour fast ferry to Matsu or Penghu Islands and brush up on your traditional character-reading skills while sitting on some very pretty white beaches. There are also cool caves to explore, war relics and embattlements to visit, and quaint villages to stroll in for a day or two.

Next Time: Beijing, Zhenyuan, and the Qinhai to Tibet Railway – the highest train voyage on Earth. Check out previous guides here: Part 4, Part 3, Part 2, Part 1.

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