Another day, another journey. What was that noise so early in the morning? It snowed… so a guy was outside cleaning the sidewalk with a leaf blower. Off to a… polar exhibit today. I think we actually spent a little bit too much time there, but we took our time and saw allll of the performances… many of which consisted of Russian dancers. Harbin Polarland is dedicated to wintery animals, dolphins, penguins, polar bears, etc. Also had the world’s first cloned white wolf. Whale show proudly boasted of its achievements, the “tender moment caught on camera” wherein two (female) divers kiss the beluga whales. Of course it looks nice, but the guys never kissed the animals, makes you kinda wonder about it. It didn’t last long, either, but we had to grab seats thirty minutes earlier or else be forced to stand at the back… which might have been better. Dolphin show was alright, though, again, a lot of non-animal added entertainment. It was probably the best show overall. Penguin show was… rather dull. Another dance performance, then some audience participation, then the penguins came out and… stood around. Had a couple of twin polar bears from Russia, but they looked a little sad. Well-fed, but didn’t have much room to maneuver. One of the staff was live-streaming the polar bear sleeping. (New future job requirement?) It’s a sizeable location and reminded me of the Vancouver Aquarium, but didn’t have the same sort of research-idea behind it. Rather, given all the pomp and flash of the performances (accompanied with very loud music and announcers), it seemed more dedicated to spectacle than learning about the animals and their habitats. Had a few people want pictures, but not as many as on ZhongYang Street, but I DID have a request for an interview by the staff! HAHAHA! They just wanted a soundbite for something they had to put together and said either Chinese or English would be fine. I decided to go with English because, to be honest, my Chinese has been faltering DESPITE me doing a lot of reading lately (and extensive listening due to the performances). Animals, park, and service, they said, and then end with 我爱哈尔滨极地公园 and then I couldn’t grasp the last part he was trying to say. So I stuck with English. Chinese language FAIL! After that, went over to St. Sofia’s Orthodox Cathedral and it was COLD outside. No surprise. Just meant time outdoors was restricted. It cost 20 RMB to go inside and there wasn’t much to see other than some photographs of the city from different years. After that, to the first floor of the mall across the street and that was basically an indoor food street, much of it Russian-inspired, but all Chinese operated. Was a good visit, cause we were hungry and thirsty anyway. Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com And on Notion: https://stevensirski.notion.site/SSAB-The-Audio-Blog-of-Steven-Sirski-00acfe344e164bfab191d3cddf6952b2?pvs=4 December Drumming 2024 over here: https://skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com/album/december-drumming-2024 Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com (soon to be AI generated!) Language vlog on http://www.youtube.com/@stevenslanguagevlog Hope you have a great Wednesday!! 00:00 Introduction and Today's Plan 00:28 Polar Exhibit Adventures 06:17 Beluga Whale Show 09:08 Dolphin and Penguin Shows 13:02 Reflections on the Polar Exhibit 26:40 Exploring St. Sophia's Cathedral 34:51 Final Thoughts and Farewell
