Tucked away in a far corner of China, 2,000 km north-east of Hohhot, is the booming border town of Manzhouli. 60% of China’s trade with Russia passes through the international border crossing on the outskirts of the city, and it’s here where the Trans Siberian Beijing to Moscow train rumbles across the border every Monday. During “revolutionary” times, the Chinese and Soviet leaders sped through here on their special trains to confer with their comrades and allies across the border.
We went to the crossing yesterday for a look. Just a few more steps would have taken us into Russia, and to the west, we could have fired an arrow into Mongolia. But having neither visas nor an archery set, we had to content ourselves with surveying the brown countryside to the horizon. Trains loaded with Siberian timber chugged into China, and Russian and Chinese visitors passed over the line to browse in each other’s shops. There were many blonde-haired Russians walking on the streets of Manzhouli that has a Russian feel about it and sports much Russian signage.
I soon discovered that if you’re not Chinese here, it’s assumed you are Russian, and many times shop-keepers attempted to strike up a conversation in Russian and were bemused at my inability to respond, except in another strange language.
We took a bus yesterday to the city of Haila’er three hours to the east, and from there a taxi to the Jinzhanghan Grassland, also brown at this time of year. But the sweeping vistas were interesting nevertheless; it would certainly be an impressive sight in the green season. But it was now hay harvesting time, and all around the district farmers were loading dried hay from the plains onto trucks for transport back to villages where it was stored in large piles within fenced compounds.
It was hot during the day but very cold after the sun set when we arrived back in Manzhouli. Russian women strolled along the streets in their thick fur coats and we braced against the chill and made our way once again to the Kopyma (or letters to that effect), an excellent Russian restaurant just around the corner from our hotel. I ordered a bowl of hearty Bortsch, grilled salmon topped with herbs, and pickled cabbage. Lee Tuan had the pea and potato soup, chicken rolls stuffed with mushrooms, and the beet and prune salad. All washed down with hot, unsweetened tea. Then it was time to turn in for the night and sleep, despite the incessant distant noise of the shunting timber trains readying for their long journeys south.
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