2024 National Day Trip to Vladivostok

Compared with the name “Vladivostok”, I prefer “海参崴”, because it has “海” (sea) and “山” (mountain).

I don’t know when I made my decision to go for a trip to Vladivostok. Maybe two months ago, maybe I’ve never actually made one, just settling things down while daydreaming… Anyway, looking forward to it, fantasizing about it, the National Day holidays are coming, and now I am sitting in a bamboo chair at Wenzhou Business Hotel in Dongning, tapping away at the keyboard, thinking that not surprisingly I’ll be in a foreign country tomorrow.

Woke up early due to neighbor’s renovation, it’s about time to pick up my loads and leave anyway. Got on the train from Harbin to Suifenhe, no silent environment to enjoy as usual. Later I boarded the bus to Dongning, waiting for it to fill up and depart. However, that took me two hours. It’s probably on me that I didn’t choose to take the carpool. But I really resent people actively coming to me and keep bothering me, just to let me pick their services, even though they can clearly see that I’m not interested and ignoring them. So I was piqued, chose to wait for another two hours rather than letting the annoying cab drivers make my money.

While waiting, the bus driver told us about his UFO sighting experience. It was a Mid-Autumn Festival twenty years ago, he stopped on a drawbridge to smoke, looking at the full moon in the sky. There were two stars near the moon, one was nothing particular, but the other one glowed with a reddish light. He just stared at the red star for a long time, suddenly it began to fly away, faster and faster, eventually disappeared. That was certainly an UFO, the driver told us, since no airplane could have stopped there or been that bright!

Without eating anything a whole day, I arrived at Dongning, settled in the hotel I have booked earlier, and then came out to find a restaurant. I wandered along the street with my camera, it was rainy. I don’t know if I was tired and didn’t have appetite or what, the restaurants here didn’t seem attractive to me at all. The street was not bright, with few people, and it was similar to those restaurants, cold lights with few people. I walked around multiple times finally realized, that’s the very loneliness traveling alone to a different city.

In the end, I decided to sit down in a noodle restaurant, despite the cold lights. Near the windows there were two tables of Russian uncles smoking and talking in Russian which I don’t understand. Minutes later came two more. The two knew the people at the two tables. They picked a table not far from me. One ordered a bowl of wontons while another asked for a few dumplings. At first the waiter could not understand what they were asking so he called out his sister (I should call her grandma probably.) who can speak Russian, let her deal with the language problem. They finally understood what those two Russians wanted in the end. The kid from the Malatang restaurant opposite was eating here too. He heard the grandma’s fluent Russian-speaking, seemed to show admiration for her. The grandma told him to study hard to find the world wider, or some words like that. The kid expressed that his grades were not good, had already dropped from the first place to the fifth in the whole grade. The grandma said, then study harder to get the first place back!

After a while she realized, the kid was talking his rank in the whole grade, and he was actually excellent.

The uncles at the two tables checked out, one of them was tall and thin, wearing a hat, high-fived the grandma. Uncle “Dumpling” could not use chopsticks and asked for a fork. They also asked for tea later. The grandma added sugar for them.

A couple went into the restaurant. The man ordered a rice bowl with shredded pork and green peppers, and emphasized that he wanted less meat and more peppers. The chief said, why not make him a rice bowl with only green peppers? Well that’s also okay, the man told the chief. So that’s a rice bowl with shredded pork and green peppers but actually with no pork at all, and had you parked your Swordfish II just outside the restaurant?

Before I left, I asked the grandma when could I buy the ticket at the port. She didn’t know either but she said to me she could ask somebody. I went out to buy bottles of water, and the grandma came after me, told me that she had reached a person who sells tickets. But I simply said no thanks.

With beer in my stomach I felt better, started taking photos along the street. I saw a drunk guy being carried into a taxi. And while I was shooting a statue of a child under the street lamp and the national flag, I heard a girl said bye-bye to me. She was riding an electric bike. I smiled to her. “Don’t forget your stuff, it’s right there.” A can of lactic acid bacteria drink was left on the ventilation shaft with a straw. When I realized what just happened and I should thank her, she had already ridden away. That was unexpected, and I was somewhat flattered.

Started heading to Dongning port around four A.M. The driver dropped me in front of a store, telling me that’s the place where I can buy a ticket. There were more people came to here. Truth is, the door still remained closed even after 6 A.M. We found that we could directly to the entrance of the departure hall by going around the left side of the building without having to go through the store. I met a buddy (I’ll just call him “Buddy” in the following paragraphs since I actually do not know his name.) studying history at a university in Tianjing, and girls studying for master’s degrees at Heilongjiang University.

Got on the bus which dropped us at the customs. I was in a queue waiting for passport and visa checks by a short-haired lady. It was also women working when we entered the security check room. One of them said to the lady before me, “包立起来，姑娘。” (“Stand up your bag, girl.”).

Took a snap on the bus then we arrived at Ussuriysk. Buddy, an aunt and a grandma from Harbin, and I, we shared a cab together. The Russian driver asked, “Владивосток?”, me and Buddy answered “Yeah.” at the same time, then we both reacted immediately, “Da!”. The aunt asked us wanting to know if we both speak Russian. I said “不会啊不会啊” (“bu hui a bu hui a”, meaning “No no, we do not.”) and noticed the driver took a glance at me, through the rearview mirror. I recalled “hui” is a dirty word in their language. The driver actually can speak some English, told us that August is the best time to visit here. We explained that today October first is our National Day, we have a week off from the work to go somewhere else.

In the hostel (There were at least four more Chinese besides me.) I settled. Buddy suggested we look for some place to have a meal. Came out of the hostel I saw an aunt smoking against the wall in the doorway adjacent. We couldn’t find the restaurant Buddy had picked so we asked an aunt for help. The enthusiastic aunt took us around and around for several times, even asked another person, still we couldn’t find the restaurant. Buddy and I thought, then that’s it, we should bother the aunt no more. So we showed our thoughts translated to Russian. The aunt insisted on the contrast, “нет” — what she said after I don’t understand — and led us keep looking for it for another while, failed in the end. Maybe Google Maps displayed outdated info. After expressing our gratitude, we chose to have the meal at the restaurant just in front of us. I ordered a burger and a glass of stout. The waitress who served us was a sweet-looking girl with blonde hair and glasses. Buddy asked me, how shall we say “Thank you.”? “Spasibo.” So we were both looking at her “Spasibo”ing to her with our clumsy tongues, which teased her and made her laugh mildly. We were even considering whether we could ask her to take a photo with us, saying that it’s our first time to Russia blah blah, and we of course would also give her a tip. But it was her time to leave, none of us were bold enough to ask for the photo, and thus we saved the tip to her. At the end it was another brown-haired girl who came to collect the plates and take the money. We couldn’t understand what she said because the words were in Russian, so we used the translator. Before I left, I also said “Do svidaniya!”, noticed she was pleased too. During the meal we also met a group of guys looked like they were from the Middle East. Someone just said “你好吗”. “你好！” I replied, and “Hello!” said Buddy. Later it seemed one of his companions explained to him that when saying hello he should just say “你好” instead of “你好吗”. (That’s because “你好吗？” is actually “How are you?” or “You all right? (You look uncomfortable.)”, and is usually more like the second one than the first one. We supposed he just wanted to say hello since that’s the most common situation for a person who doesn’t actually speak Chinese.)

When we came out, the sky was clear (It was rainy before.) and the sun was about to set. We took photos beside the Pacific War memorial statue and the eternal flame under the bridge. Focus, exposure, composition… None was correct, my photos were as bad as usual. Bought bottles of water at the grocery store, I still remembered to be polite: “Spasibo!” and “Do svidaniya!”.

Buddy was too tired to continue so he went back to the hotel. I went back to the hostel accordingly, but left there again after I organized my stuff, thinking I had to see the Eagle’s Nest viewing platform. Google Maps said it was in repair and unreachable months earlier, but I thought now is the time to check. When I got out of the hostel, found the aunt was still smoking against the wall. And I arrived near the platform. It was still in repair. I took my phone and asked an aunt at the bus stop, wanted to know if I could actually reach the platform. Google Translate was not handy, I couldn’t understand what she said. So she just pointed out the way and I do-svidaniyaed to her. Successfully, I found the platform unreachable in the end. So I just had to pick another angle to shoot the bridge. It was a windy and chilly night, I only tried a few locations before I started to walk back. Vladivostok is full of inclines which are not quite friendly to people have leg injuries like me. When I came back to the hostel once again, I found the aunt had disappeared. Standing in front of the hostel’s door, below was a group of teens walked by, talking about something. There was one holding a cake, on which written the number twenty-two. I was to have said “Happy birthday!” (to whoever…?), but I didn’t say it, just watched them walked away.

And here I am, at the B07 upper floor presidential luxury coffin room, writing my experience today. Oh, I had signed-up for the access of Zажигалка strip club. Buddy let me send him their link, I wonder if he wants to go there too.

Eleven forty-eight P.M., the television playing John Wick 4 in Russian. Before me is a Russian woman wearing purple or gray, looking at her phone and writing on a purple notebook. She almost turned the notebook sideways and wrote with her left hand. We didn’t talk. I don’t know if it’s appropriate staring at her writing. Watch TV commercials and watch her write. A cozy night, but not a common situation to me who is on a trip out of China for the first time. I want to remember the scene and the atmosphere, but I can’t. A young man came in said “你好！” to me, and talked to the woman, seemed to ask what she’s writing.

A bright morning with no clouds, unlike yesterday.

I walked nearby. Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral (Спасо-Преображенский кафедральный собор)’s bells rang. Went to the train station to buy a ticket for departure, and shot the steam locomotive. The ticket seller at the train station pulled Buddy to the window, used her hands to make a little man walking, and said, “Walk, walk, walk, walk…” (I guess so, I don’t understand Russian.) and showed him the route. Buddy was gathering info because he will leave on October 4th. We called a cab to Far Eastern Federal University (Сувенирная лавка ДВФУ, or FEFU). While waiting, the air raid sirens sounded.

We encountered an uncle at FEFU. He went to Khabarovsk from Fuyuan, and came here on September 26th. Sat at the seaside for a while, we took a photo with two students. On the platform nearby, we met a group of people who were probably middle or high-school students. They wore blue uniforms. Some guy greeted me with “你好！” and I responded “Privet!”. And there was even a guy came to me and said “What’s up?”, and shook my hand like an American black homme, so I responded with “What’s up, bro?”. Behind them were another group of people who wore the same blue uniforms. Among them, a boy wearing red also greeted me. I asked where did he come from. He just expressed embarrassedly that he don’t understand or speak English. On the platform there was a doctoral student from the Faculty of Arts studying in Nanjing and his traveling companions. The person in the Russian group that looked like their teacher asked him to introduce the Nanjing city to them. And then they took pictures together. After said goodbye to the doctoral student and his companions, Buddy and I picked seats at their stadium. Buddy started talking about MBTI. I’m an INTP, and he is an INFJ. We asked a guy near the stadium where can we find the canteen. But he said he didn’t know, because he is a freshman here. He had Ayanami Rei and Asuka charms on his backpack. When asking for directions we said hello to a student whose home is in Azerbaijan. We met a couple who were also looking for the canteen. Both of them were medical students, and the guy’s home is in Weifang, Shandong. We together found an uncle sitting in a car who was glad to help us find the canteen. He pointed it on the map nearby, but it’s not in the Building B we looked up on the website. We were lucky enough to find an international student who led us to the canteen in the a hotel, and paid for us with his card. Seemed that the Building B canteen was only available to students or employees here. The international student’s home is in Zibo, Shandong. He only has two chances to come back home per year, once during the summer vacation, and the other during Spring Festival. The campus here is so large that they have to wait for the bus to go to the classroom thirty minutes before class begins. And a session lasts for one and half an hour. More often than not there are four classes a day. Freshman and sophomore year was a challenge, because there was a calculus teacher who is extremely strict that only a Chinese and a Vietnamese from a class of thirty people passed their exam. Living here, you’ll find Vladivostok’s infrastructure sucks, and when you go back to China you’ll feel like going back to the modernized society. And every time you go back home you’ll gain one and a half kilograms weight. He also hadn’t used cash for a long time. Russia also developing payment systems that utilize QR codes printed on the receipts now. In Russia, where education is compulsory for twelve years, students also learn English. (I asked if they learn English.) He also showed us the notice FEFU sent earlier, told students that there would be an air raid siren today because of a drill. The girl in the couple selected a cutlet and it did not taste good. The international student said he only selects chicken wings or something that he can tell what it is, and he doesn’t dare to select foods that he can’t tell because he knows they taste awful.

Said goodbye to the international student and FEFU, we four took a cab to Cape Tobizina. Some people wearing the Chinese flag were taking photos there, as if they were about to reconquer the East back. Buddy said if someday I plan a trip to Tianjian, just look for him, but he will only be available before his graduation in 2026. A girl and a couple asked me to help them take photos.

When we were heading back, we couldn’t call for a cab. Buddy caught a ride, see if we can pay them to bring us back to the city. It turned that the two people in the car can speak Chinese. They were both doctoral students at Northeast Forestry University. One’s home is in Vladivostok and another’s is in Peru. I listened in the car. They communicated with each other in English, but they both spoke Chinese to us. In the car played Chinese songs like “刚好遇见你” and “平凡之路”. The Peru brother seemed talking to his nine year-old daughter. Buddy wanted to go to Ogonëk instead. The Vladivostok sister said it was good, but not cheap. And she recommended another hot restaurant called Супра (Supra). That’s the one that makes Georgian food. Buddy planed to eat there tomorrow. When we arrived, Buddy paid the Vladivostok sister a thousand.

We ordered two dished and a king crab at Ogonëk. The waiter said sorry, the crabs were sold out, and asked if we could change to another dish with crab meat. Buddy agreed. I said to Buddy with smile, that we were here for a whole crab, if it was not available then maybe we should leave. Buddy kept rubbing his forehead, seemed anxious because of my words. Luckily the waiter came back with a crab, said “Things changed.”. So we ate the last one. The environment was dark and I was tired, wanting to sleep. The king crab doesn’t look very attractive in the photo because of the dark environment, but 1.7 kg is indeed very filling.

When we left, I asked Buddy, the Vladivostok sister — named Olga (Ольга) judging from the display on her car, really asked only a thousand from you? I heard it was one and a half thousand. I meant, did we just give too little and take advantage of others? Buddy let trust him. Besides, they had said that it would be based on taxi fare, and he checked estimated cost on the app, also about a thousand. Of course that was before we made a change to the route. I thought, okay, maybe I heard it wrong? Maybe, “你就付一千五吧” was actually “你就付一千卢布”? Or, Olga just decided to let us go thinking we were tourists here? There is no way to find the answer. At the restaurant I was considering, is there a way to contact her to confirm? I don’t want to take advantage of people who helped us. But I can’t contact her. If luckily we meet in Harbin, and she recognizes me, I will aske for confirmation. But that’s basically not gonna happen. I don’t want to invade her privacy by looking for clues on the Internet like a perverted voyeur. Or how should I explain to her? I’m a fucking holmes?

Buddy and I agreed to meet at eight o’clock tomorrow. I’ll pay back the money Buddy paid for me, then we go to see the lighthouse. At noon I’ll go to the shooting range to shoot.

We visited the Tokarevsky Lighthouse. A lot of sea stars can be found around the lighthouse. People holding sea stars and taking photos.

Took a cab to the Fireline shooting club. I mentioned I was a client of Zhao Hui and got a discount. I have already made an appointment for the Great Weapon plan which contains Saiga Carbine Model 030 SOK (based on AK-74), Glock 17 Gen.5, and Saiga-9 sp. 42 LOT Yarovit 9×19 caliber. The coach spoke English so I had a good conversation experience. I finished the shooting after a while. They recorded videos for me while I was shooting, and eventually signed me a certificate.

Then we headed to the Супра that makes Georgian food. The staple food looked like a gaint glutinous rice ball with a filling in it. It should be flattened and rolled up to eat, and tasted like a Chinese pancake with the filling of a Chinese meat pie. Buddy also ordered a “dumpling” but it looked like a Shaomai or a Baozi. He thought there were four per serve, but there was actually one. He said this chicken filling one tasted like chicken and salad. He didn’t like it so just left it. I personally can’t get used to the taste of pork and lamb chops because the spice flavor was too prominent. They had the anise flavor. I still can’t get used to it even though I actually like anise. There was even a performance where waiters and waitresses walking around the field while shouting, putting a hat on a random person and passing the person a horn cup to drink with. The waitress who was serving us was quite pretty. Actually all the waitresses here were pretty, with the same makeup. I was attracted not by the foods but by the waitresses. The waitress poured us drinks as long as she found our cups not full. For that we kept saying spasibo embarrassedly. When we were checking out, she showed us a picture which was a note in Chinese saying if we were satisfied with her service please tip ten percent or something like that. We of course gave her the tip and went back to respective hotels. Buddy was exhausted, he will directly take the train to Ussuriisk tomorrow morning.

I went out and took another walk by myself. Firstly I went to the C-56 Submarine Museum (Гвардейская Краснознамённая подводная лодка С-56, Музей), happened to run into a group of kids who looked like elementary school students coming to visit with their teacher. The narrator was explaining to them probably something about Russian submariners, which I couldn’t understand anyway. Some kids greeted me with “你好。”. When they left I also finished my tour, and waved to the kids, saying ”Do svidaniya!“.

Near the train station I encountered Russians offered to greet me. They were Gregory (Грегори) and Andre (Андре). Gregory was a welder in the shipbuilding industry. We shook hands and took pictures.

Then I went to see the statue of Lenin. And then, Primorsky State Art Gallery (Приморская государственная картинная Галерея). It was almost closing time and I was the only tourist. I saw a dumb robot rumbling at a dark corner so I went there to check it. An aunt in the room said something, probably said that the robot was not working well, then cut off its power.

I was wondering if I should pay a visit to the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Собор Покрова Пресвятой Богородицы), but I was tired, so I went to the pedestrian street instead, and found that there was a band playing. When they were performing “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2” I even sang along, whether it was good or bad I didn’t care. Then came a girl speaking to me in English asking for donation, so I gave all my change, maybe fifty or sixty rubles, or even less. I wanted to talk to her, to ask if they were students, but I didn’t seize the opportunity, she left hand in hand with the drummer. I was also wondering should I donate them one handred yuan, but the drummer left and some people left so I left. And I found there was another guy playing the guitar and singing. My battery died recording him.

So I came back to write my blog post. My Chinese roommates were talking about ruble exchange and return trip. I checked there were at least eight other Chinese. This room was mixed with men and women, perhaps all came here because of the low price. All the people were well-mannered, didn’t cause trouble to others, and quite all the time. At least that was the impression.

I plan to go to the strip club Стриптиз-клуб Zажигалка later.

And I failed. They didn’t let me in, so perhaps I will watch the performance in my dream. When I opened the door they even laughed at me and told me to go back using gestures. I thought I went to the wrong place, but then confirmed I didn’t. I saw some Russian guys before me had entered. So I went inside the door again and asked “Is it open?”, the guard said it was open but still let me go back. He then explained to me in Russian and showed the translation on his watch, something like “It is closed today, for special maintenance.”, so I just left. I think in any culture “closed for special maintainence” is basically politely telling you “you are not allowed to enter but we won’t tell you the detailed reason”. Alright, there’s no point keep asking, which would only piss the guard off. No big deal, I still have opportunities in the future.

After I went back to the hostel, I started chatting with the three Chinese guys on my left. They were all college students. The one just besides me was from Shanxi, and the one on his left was from Shannxi. There was also a guy from Changchun in the living room. He played well with a Russian buddy here, even fist-bumped each other.

This day I didn’t write the post, now it’s October fifth. But I kept things in my note app, so here here is the summary and supplement of the notes.

I was sad. Thinking of leaving this city, I was sad.

In the morning I took a look at the guns in a hunting supply store. I have already tried AK-74 which is twenty-seven greater than AK-47 yesterday so I didn’t spend money just for a photo holding an AK-47. I entered Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral to look at its interior, and then bought some postcards at the ВладГифтс gift store.

I heard a coin dropped when I was at the entrance of the underground passage. So I picked it up and wanted to return it to the owner. But I stopped halfway because I wasn’t sure it was dropped by that person, and I was afraid I would return it to the wrong person. Nobody came to me for the coin, probably they didn’t notice or care.

After that, I visited Museum of the History of the Far East (Музей истории Дальнего Востока имени В.К. Арсеньева), the Fortress Museum (Владивостокская крепость), and Museum of Antique Automobiles and Motorcycles (Музей Автомотостарины), also walked around the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When I was in the cab to Museum of Antique Automobiles and Motorcycles, I saw a tram on the road. When paying the fee, the driver wanted to leave me his number to let me transfer the money. I explained that I was a tourist, could not use online payments, only the five thousand rubles cash available. So the driver had no choice but to turn over the seat and search his pockets to give me some change.

And then I went to the cemetery near Сфера, Смотровая площадка (Let’s just call it the Dome.). I feel like it was inappropriate of me taking photos here. I was a tourist who do not understand Russian at all, so I wouldn’t know the life and background of the deceased here. I was just looking for special tombstones and taking photos, that was indeed inappropriate. After that I went to the Dome, encountered Zhenya (Женя) and his fellow on the back seat of the motorcycle with a helmet. These youngsters came to see the Dome, didn’t care to ride the motorcycle loudly near the cemetery. Zhenya came to me, Ni Hao, Xie Xie, Zai Jian, we fist-bumped. At the Dome I saw the most beautiful sunset of Vladivostok. Sunlight went though the tall grass, in the distance is a diagonal bridge, a couple sitting close on a log, the Big Dumb Object on my left was warmed by the sunlight with graffiti spread inside silently waiting for and watching at the people came to enjoy the beautiful scenery. People’s steps formed echoes bouncing in the Dome, unnecessary for the graffiti to respond, for they’ve already been doing it for years. I left the Dome eventually and met three girls. I said privet to them, and also said “It’s beautiful up there.”. They seemed only understood the word “beautiful”, said something I didn’t understand and laughed. Maybe they thought I was calling them beautiful. Anyway, them seemed to say something to me, but when I was about to catch up with them to ask them clearly, they seemed to quicken their pace and didn’t want me to catch up.

I took a cab to the Калина shopping mall to buy something to take home. I wanted to buy Kvass, but it seemed sold out. I asked the aunt at the butcher shop nearby and had no idea what she said. So she came out to led me, stripped over my shopping basket and spilled the goods on the shelf next to her. I couldn’t say anything but “Pozhaley!” (пожалей, I was misled by the translator, this word actually does not stand for “sorry” or “apologize” at all.) and helped her up. Didn’t find Kvass in the end.

Coming back to the hostel with a big bag, the driver asked me “Китай?”“Tourist?”“Russia very good?”“China good? Russia good?”.

I’ve walked so far this day, too exhausted to feel sad. I haven’t eaten anything so I grabbed two beers, a slice of bread, and a sausage, found a place around the Revolution Fighters Square to enjoy my beer. It was about ten o’clock, the fountain light show playing in front of me. I was enjoying the last time at Vladivostok, chilly. One of the two aunts on my right came to me asking why was I here alone not going back to the hotel, because it was cold and dangerous here and not all Russians are friendly. I appreciated them for their care, explained I am to leave here tomorrow and I wanted to take a last look at here. Finally finished my beer and it had become really cold. I was wondering whether I should join the bottle rolling game of the teens on my left (Actually they were in the same direction as the two aunts, but I had turned around.) with my empty bottles. However, the polices came to drive away the teens after a while. I saw the aunts still wondering on the square so I ran to to them to say thanks, explained I would be returning to the hotel soon.

They said they saw me drinking lonely so they decided to remind me. We talked about my age, reason to come here — to enjoy my holidays and pay a visit to FEFU, my occupation — programmer (They kiddingly asked me if I was a spy to collect Russian secrets, and I confirmed that.). I also mentioned my hometown Harbin, the city president Putin visited months ago. The aunt with glasses told me she wanted to describe her stay in Japan to her friend. I interpreted text displayed on her translation app into English, it was at that moment I realized she undertands English, and she would translate what I said to another aunt. She also mentioned her travel experience to China or Harbin in 2007 where she ate roast duck. She asked my age and the other aunt said I was young. Still this one with glasses, she told me she was a teacher. It seemed she came here on business. I asked her, was she kind of tourist here, actually I meant she wasn’t local here. She has a forteen year-old daughter and she showed me her picture. Her daughter is beautiful for sure. I suggested we take a photo together. And then, the aunt asked my name and wanted a greeting to her daughter. So I said, “Greetings from Harbin. I hope you have a greate life and enjoy your life.”. After that I explained I was not good at expression and I was not an outgoing person. The aunt recorded a video to convey my wish. I then consulted about the pronunciation of the word “здравствуйте”. She taught me syllable by syllable. That was really good experience. Then she asked would I want to go back here next time, or something like that. I said maybe one day I would pay a visit to here again. The aunts let me go back to the hostel I lived then, so I said “Do svidaniya!”.

I don’t feel any lost or pity at all.

Pretty eager to find someone else to talk when I was drunk. So I chatted with the Russian guy in the living room. He was not a student, nor he was a tourist. He came here to take a look at his grandma. I told him I would be leaving tomorrow, and I enjoyed my stay here. He shared a tea bag with me. He asked, why I looked sad. I said in the morning I was indeed sad, but I was sad no more. I’ve had a full four days and that’s good enough for me. He then asked, would I learn Russian in the future. I said, sometime in the past I did try to learn Russian but eventually gave up. Maybe in the future I will pick up the learning again. My hometown Harbin, there are a lot of Russian style buildings there, and many of them were initially built by Russian. I also said in my opinion, men in Russia are handsome and women are beautiful. And you are handsome. I asked for a photo together, saying that I enjoyed my time here, and you were always kind to others, and I will be missing you when I go back to China. In the end, I learned Russian “good evening” from him, and said that to him, explaining I have to pack up my stuff for the departure tomorrow.

Morning, it was a rush to catch the train. I looked up to the sky, a found there were more visible stars than I normally see in Harbin.

I didn’t take the bus ticket price into account when I was shopping yesterday. So I exchanged for some rubles from other person. On the train I looked up two times, didn’t find Olga. She was coming back to Harbin today. If she was still going to head to Pogranichnyy, there would be a little chance I meet her on the train. But I didn’t. Instead I saw a woman with her dog, as if yesterday I saw a woman brought her dog to the supermarket. Also I saw, as the train moving through the city, on my left there was cloudy hills turning into a sunrise tilted in the mountains, and on my right was a vast sea turning into a cozy morning glory.

In the supermarket “Moscow” in Ussuriysk, I bought fresh kvass. And even in the version with honey, they did not taste as sweet as in Harbin.

Took on the bus back to China. Someone asked me to bring some stuff.

According to the uncles from the same bus, the milk can not pass the examination of the customs. So I drank a whole box of milk like Wang Baoqiang in the movie. Now I am writing this post and have to go to the toilet often… The fresh fish, pig’s trotters, and the soybean oil carried by the uncles, were not supposed to pass the border. But with the cooperation of resourceful uncles and custom officials who turned a blind eye, the cooperation of both China and Russia, they passed the border with no problem. The lady for passport and visa examination sang with ease.

Shared a cab from Dongning Bus Station to Suifenhe, I chatted with pals on the road. The driver recommended us Jeju Island, also said we could consider buying a van when we have money in the future, as finding a place to park is difficult during a trip. He also suggested boys marry a girl from south. I said I lived in Harbin, judging by the location, Vladivostok is also considered south right? Somebody mentioned the Greater Khingan Range, the driver recommended that we go see the aurora there. The girl sit on my left was a first-year graduate student from Guangdong and studying Changchun. The other two said her voice sounds young. The girl on her left was playing “Ace Attorney”, she was the person promised to help me exchange rubles this morning, but we were separated on the train, so I turned to another person for the rubles. The guy in the front was from Heibei, I couldn’t see him. We talked about North Korea — the driver said North Korea is just like China in the seventies — and we also talked about spice used in the restaurant and perfume usesd by Russians.

My note ends here. I’m still having diarrhea… And it’s sixteen past nine, I plan to put on my clothes and take a look at the self-service dumpling restaurant, and have some drink.

Now is about ten o’clock in the night on October sixth. I’m sitting at my home. Last night was a crazy night.

The self-service dumpling restaurant was closed at that time, and I walked along the street and found Donya Russian Music Restaurant. I ordered a rack of lamb with lettuce, coriander, onions, garlic, gluten cakes and pickles, also gravy and mashed potatoes, mixed soup and two bottles of Miller beer. It cost over one hundred and forty yuan. There was a dance floor in the center of the restaurant, with lights on above and smoke spraying from below. Russian dance music was played on big speakers, and diners from both China and Russia were dancing here. Once again I was sitting at the corner drinking alone. Sometimes I went to the dance floor and jumped for a while. It happened to be an aunt’s birthday. People held hands together and circled around her, hugging her. Soon after, the table next to me changed occupants and six Russians came. It seemed Roman (Роман) firstly said hello to me. Anyway, I was invited to their deck. The woman on my right spoke English. She introduced these people to me. She was called Yulia (Юлия), and her husband was Roman who was drinking happily wearing a chest bag. Her friends here were Vika (Вика), Alexey (Алексей), Dmitry (Дмитрий, sometimes called Dima Дима), and Maxim (Максим). I may misspelled their names since I was recalling their names only by pronunciation. She lives Roman in Vladivostok, they have a three-year-old son. Their son lives with grandma in another city. Later, Roman started calling me a friend. Yulia invited me to go with them to Anna Western Restaurant for another round. It was in a basement, also with a dance floor. They ordered a half dozen of beer, a plate of shrimps, a plate of pistachios, and later a plate of grapes. They paid in cash, I said I didn’t bring cash with me but I can pay through the QR code. Yulia said this bottle of beer was on them. Yulia also talked about her honeymoon with Roman and friends in Thailand, and that was the exact experience that had made the Thailand city her favorite. She had also been to Shanghai, and wanted to visit Beijing, Harbin, and Chongqing in the future. She would never go to Moscow because it’s just too far from Vladivostok. Instead, she often goes to Suifenhe because it’s near. I talked about my mojar, Environmental Engineering. Yulia was majored in biology-related. Just like the aunts yesterday, Maxim and Yulia mentioned, Russians could be dangerous, and it was crazy I followed them and drank together. But Maxim also expressed on the contrary they were friendly. Roman had fallen into sleep. Maxim joked on him, saying he’s a tiger with two biggest hobbies, drinking and sleeping. The “Boss” friend of Yulia, Volod, had come here, looked like a big guy. Yulia said his wife was “dangerous”, and Maxim told me once Volod kept saying something like “I’m a man. I’m a man.” for two or three hours. We also talked about other things, such as the word “干杯”, whether I travelled here alone, also some adult jokes. Basically I was chatting only with Maxim and Yulia, and had a little dance with Roman, probably that was because others don’t speak English. Two o’clock in the morning, they wanted to go back. It’s a bit embarrassing to say that Roman and Yulia called me a friend, but I couldn’t talk to everyone, and I couldn’t even match their names and appearances. I still owe them a bottle of beer. If there is a chance I would like to treat them next time, but don’t wait until the Combine invades the Earth.

Woke up in the morning, packed up and checked out, stored my luggage and went for a walk. I learned the history of Middle East Railway briefly at the Middle East Railway Memory Museum. I went to the self-service dumpling restaurant that I missed last night. Twenty-five yuan per person. I saw some Russians using chopsticks, even poured some vinegar on the dumplings. I drank two bottles and went back to the “New Era Building” full of Russians, took a snap at the lobby, spent my time, and went back home. Here I am uploading photos and writing this post, that’s it.

Because I used a proxy, Meta suspected that I had falsified my identity, blocked both of my Instagram accounts, and did not give me any effective means of appeal. I was forced to cut off contact with Yulia. That’s why sometimes I hate the big companies — your data is never yours; and it’s more and more difficult to contact a human customer service agent.

The pigeon feather I was planning to bring back and wrap in plastic ended up falling somewhere.

After switching to a low risk IP address, my appeal for the second account accepted. Now I’m good with Yulia and Roman. After watching the video of the “Big Ice and Snow World”, Yulia said she really wanted to come to Harbin, and said she would definitely contact me if she came to China in the future.

On last Thursday which was March 20th, I met Yulia, Roman, and another two people, Anastasia and Maxim, who came here for a trip in Beijing. I brought them Laodingfeng cakes, Duiqing roast goose, Harbin sausages, and kvac. I brought them beers so I don’t owe them one anymore. 😉 We met at Guanghua Road SOHO. I followed them into a shopping mall. After that, they asked me to find a bar. So I led them to one which is open at that time. But the beer there is expensive so we left. Then we went to a Xinjiang restaurant where the waiter spoke Russian. At there we talked about some interesting topics, such as the Russian swear words I know. Yulia, Roman and I then went to find Anastasia and Maxim who had left earlier, passing by the Temple of Sun Park. Unlike Roman, Maxim was not accustomed to eating Chinese foods, so I bought them hamburgers at KFC. We arrived at the hotel they stayed and came to a small restaurant for another round. This time Roman paid the bill. Interestingly, when I asked if they wanted forks, Yulia told me specifically that they needed chopsticks, and they seemed to use them better than I did. Because I was unable to speak Russian, Roman and I talked by translators. Eventhough we did’t speak much physically, just typing, we still talked lively. They also encountered an unpleasant incident during the trip. The taxi driver gave them counterfeit money in change. However, they were also impressed by the enthusiastic tour guide who sent Roman’s lost hat back to him. The tour guide was also from Harbin. I don’t have to recall and write every detail of the topics about which we had talked that day because I guess I will have plenty of such opportunity in the future.

On Thursday, September 18th, I met Yulia and Roman in Harbin, along with Anastasia, Maxim, their daughter Arina (Арина), Arina’s friend Olesya (Олеся), Maxim and Vika, Vika’s friend Katya (Катя). I met the other six people except Vika and the other two at the Saint Sophia Cathedral, walking along the Central Street to the hotel. On the way, I bought medicine for Olesya, and Olesya said I was their body guard. We stayed for a while in the underground passage. Yulia and Maxim tried the claw machine. Maxim caught the toy for several times but the toy “escaped” every time. Of course it falls, otherwise how could they make so much money from us?

At the hotel, they gave me some gifts. Yulia and Roman gave me the “bird’s milk” candy produced in Vladivostok. It was just introduced to me in the morning by another friend from Vladivostok also called Vika. Vika told me the next time I go there, she will take me to taste it. However, it was a suprise to receive such a gift so quickly in the evening. Anastasia and Maxim gave me some jam, honey, meat and snacks. We then headed to the Golden Hans near the Flood Control Memorial Tower for dinner. Olesya showed me their dogs — Zara and Pinky. Arina also showed me her dog, a Yorkshire Terrier. And then I showed our dog, Tangyuan. Yulia asked me, what my favorite dish was, and I said it would be scrambled eggs with tomatoes. Almost all of them love scrambled eggs with tomatoes. I saw a picture of young Roman and Maxim, and was told that they have been friends for 23 years. On the table, I gave them the Erguotou Baijiu I brought.

After dinner, we went to the Central Street to look for the other three people. Olesya didn’t feel good so she left in advance. Because of a strange experience, Yulia decided to change my name, so I have new name now — Semyon (Семён). Maxim, Vika, and Katya drank beer and was happy before we met them on the Central Street. We gathered before the McDonald’s. Vika and Katya were dancing, Maxim and I were pestered by a strange uncle. The uncle talked about how good Putin is, and how bad Zelensky and the United States are, how people are deceived by lies — however, he could see the truth, how Satan rules the world, and why you Russian Orthodox Christians don’t seem to believe in God… And later, he even started talking about aliens. At first, Maxim was willing to chat with him, but later he asked me to explain to the uncle that his English and Chinese was not good enough, so he was sorry that he could not continue the conversation. However, the uncle pestered us and was annoying. Yulia and other people had left to buy beer. They asked me if I was to join them, but I was busying dealing with the uncle…

We left the Central Street. Maxim and I went to the toilet in the underground passage, while Vika and Katya were taking photos using the machine upstairs. When we came out, we saw they dancing with the music performance in the passage. We joined others sitting on the bench by the river. We were eating sunflower seeds at night. I was listening to them talking words I didn’t understand. Vika and Katya left for the club. Later, others and I also said goodbye to each other.

That was a happy day. I drank some beer but had no headache. When I came home, I saw many stars blinking in the sky. I wrote something…

On the morning of September 19th, a good news. It seemed that I finally got what I’d been longing for. It happened so quickly.

This day was also mom and dad’s anniversary, we went to the Chinese Baroque. Yulia and other people had walked at there yesterday.

At night, I had some experience more exciting… It made me kindda crazy.

The Thursday before the last Thursday, March 19th, Yulia, Roman, and Vika, after visiting Shanghai and Hangzhou, came to Beijing again for a day. They also brought their children: Yulia and Roman’s son, Dania, and Vika’s daughter, Polina. There was also a slightly older girl, Dasha, but I was meeting her for the first time and didn’t know whose child she was.

This time, Yulia and Roman finally went up the Central Radio and Television Tower. That was where I met the others. Afterwards, we went to a nearby shopping mall. On the way, Yulia said Vika didn’t like Beijing, but preferred Shanghai and Harbin. I said I didn’t like Beijing either, so Vika and I high-fived. Later, I asked her why she didn’t like Beijing, and she said she didn’t know, maybe because everything was gray, like Moscow. Dania was very mischievous, constantly crawling under my legs.

We took the subway to the vicinity of the CCTV Headquarters. Vika had seen online that there was a high-rise restaurant there with a view of the night scene. She led us into a building, but the security guard said the upper floors were for work and not open to tourists. He opened the door for us though, and we were allowed to go up to the upper floors. But there wasn’t much to see; the doors leading to the glass windows were locked.

Yulia found the restaurant, in a slightly farther location. But everyone was tired and decided not to go there, so I parted ways with them.

As for that exciting experience and what I had always longed for, I had long since lost it.

The next day, March 20th, my dad drove me back to the university. There weren’t many people in the office. However, Mr.Sheng took me to the lab for a while to watch the younger students prepare their experiments. Professor Sheng said that teaching us and watching us grow was like completing a work of art. Although he gets older every year, with each new class of students around him, he feels still very young.

The End