Harbin is a fairly promoted tourist resort of China. A particularly crowded city becomes in winter during the period of the International Snow and Ice Sculpture Festival and during the summer, when foreign and local tourists come here to admire the beautiful natural landscapes of the Far North of the country and have fun in numerous places of entertainment and recreation. Due to the comfortable air temperature in the summer months, the sights of attractions and walks around the city parks are not exhausted, but delivered pleasure. Usually in June-July on the street fresh and you can even say slightly cool. Daytime temperature is held within + 21-22⁰c. Sometimes a thermometer shows + 30⁰c, but it happens to be infrequently and for a long time the exhausting heat at this resort is not installed. Throughout the summer, the city is drowning in juicy greenery.
Communication
In Harbin, a tourist infrastructure is very well developed. There is a fairly large selection of hotels suitable for both budget recreation and high-class night. The staff of many hotels speak English. As for the workers of restaurants and cafes, as well as local residents, they will have to express themselves with their fingers or with a phrasebook. Since most of the indigenous resort residents owns solely by Chinese. In some situation, tourists speaking in Russian are rather understood than those who speak English. Thanks to the Russian roots, some residents of Harbin are somehow understanding rich Russian speech.
As for the attitude of the indigenous people of the city to tourists, it can be called neutral. Special Chinese hospitality will not be able to feel, but the Chinese do not eat negativity to foreign travelers. More friendly locals belong to tourists who know at least a couple of polite phrases in Chinese.
Money
There is no shortage of ATMs in the city. Most of them belong to the Chinese Commercial Bank and China Bank. They are without any problems serving international plastic cards. The greatest accumulation of bank departments and ATMs is found on Arbat.
So remove money from the card or exchange currency is the easiest way to do in this area of Harba. The main thing is to take a passport with you, otherwise you will not exchange currency.
Transport
Harbin spread on two sides of the Sungari River. And in order to get from the city center to the island of the Sun, you must use the cable car or river tram. Both options are pleased. Skating in a safe eight-wake cabin cabin lasts 15 minutes in one direction. There is a trip 50 yuan. The view from the cabin captures the Spirit - you can carefully consider the island of the Sun and the Sungari River. The cableway is moving at a speed of 5 kilometers per hour.
River transport works as a carrier only during the day. With the onset of darkness, the tram begins to shine with lights and make excursion walks along the river. River transport commits one big circle without stopping along the urban embankment.
At day and evening, the landing ticket can be purchased at the post office on the pier. The daytime walk in one direction costs 40 yuan, and the evening river promenade will cost 80 yuan. The duration of the excursion trip is 30 minutes, and the crossing of the river during the day lasts about 20 minutes.
Internet and telephone communication
To communicate with relatives in Harbin, you can use the services of one of the local operators - Chain Mobile, Telecom or Unicken. The operator's card can be bought at any store. As for the replenishment of the account, problems may arise with him. There are no kiosks familiar to many tourists to replenish the account. This procedure is easiest to implement at the box office in the store.
But with the Internet the situation is much easier. The entire resort is littered with small Internet cafes in which Skype can be used for a small fee and contact relatives. Closer to the outskirts of the city of Internet bars are not so crowded, like those located near the university towns. True, with connecting to the network, problems occur more often. And yet, I note that in the period from five o'clock in the evening until midnight, it is better to avoid visiting online institutions. At this time it is hard to find a free computer, and in the room cafe is noisy and smoking.
Safety
Harbin, like any other resort, can not completely protect tourists from theft of personal belongings. The probability of becoming a victim of scammers in this city is low, if you do not pay attention to the ceiling and be vigilant in crowded places. Tourists who prefer night entertainment come to unpleasant situations. Attending the clubs of the resort alone are dangerous. On weekends, fights are happening in the night bars of Harba, and the Guardians of the Law are not particularly hurry to help tourists.
As for the light time of day, the city lives a calm, measured life. The girls without escort can safely enjoy walks through the central streets and picturesque spa park.
And even, vigilance should be shown when moving across the road. The traffic light and zebra for Chinese drivers mean nothing. The low number of accidents in Harbin is rather the merit of pedestrians than drivers.
Smoking
In Harbin, it is forbidden to smoke in public places. For violation of neglect tourists, a fine of 500 yuan is facing. However, looking around on the streets of the resort, it seems that no one is afraid of a fine. Not only guests of the city, but also the local population calmly smoke in a cafe, near shopping centers and right on the streets. At every corner, breeches with large ashtrays are found, but they do not come across on the sidewalks. The only place where the rules are held - a taxi. The driver before boarding warns tourists about banning smoking in the cabin of the car.
A trip to Harbin will not force tourists to regret the choice of this resort. The city will surprise travelers with purity, painting and rich cultural and entertainment program. The only thing that will not be able to avoid during the rest is the presence of a large number of Russian-speaking tourists. But even this will not be a big chagrin compared to the mass of bright impressions from Harbin.