USING THIS GUIDE
This route guide has been set out to draw your attention to points of interest and to enable you to locate your position along the Trans-Siberian line. On the maps, stations are indicated in Russian and English and their distance from Moscow is given in the text.
Stations and points of interest are identified in the text by a kilometre number. In some cases these numbers are approximate so start looking out for the point of interest a few kilometres before its stated position.
Where something of interest is on only one side of the track, it is identified after its kilometre number by the approximate compass direction for those going away from Moscow; that is, on the Moscow–Vladivostok Trans-Siberian line (pp359-416) by the letter N (north or left-hand side of the train) or S (south or right-hand side), and on the Trans-Mongolian branch (pp417-26) and Trans-Manchurian branch (pp427-34) by E (east or left-hand side) or W (west or right-hand side).
The elevation of major towns and cities is given in metres and feet beside the station name. Time zones are indicated throughout the text (MT = Moscow Time). See inside back cover for key map and time zones.
Kilometre posts
These are located on the southern or western side of the track, sometimes so close to the train that they’re difficult to see. The technique is either to hang out of the window (dangerous) or press your face close to the glass and look along the train until a post flashes by. On each post, the number on the face furthest from Moscow is larger by 1km than that on the face nearest to Moscow, suggesting that each number really refers to the entire 1km of railway towards which it ‘looks’.
Railway timetables show your approximate true distance from Moscow, but unfortunately the distances painted on kilometre posts generally do not: indeed on the Trans-Siberian they may vary by up to 40km, the result of multiple route changes over the years. Distances noted in the following route guide and in the timetables at the back of the book correspond to those on the kilometre posts. Occasionally, however, railway authorities may recalibrate and repaint these posts, thereby confusing us all! If you notice any discrepancies, please write to the author.
Station name boards
Station signs are almost as difficult to catch sight of as kilometre posts since they are usually placed only on the station building and not along the platform as in most other countries. Rail traffic on the line is heavy and even if your carriage does pull up opposite the station building you may have your view of it obscured by another train.
Stops
Where the train stops at a station the duration of the stop is indicated by:
l (1-6 min) l l (7-14 min) l l l (15-24 min) l l l+ (25 mins and over)
These durations are based upon timetables for the No 1/2 Moscow–Vladivostok (Rossiya), No 3/4 Moscow–Beijing (Trans-Mongolian) and No 19/20 Moscow– Beijing (Vostok, Trans-Manchurian) services. Actual durations may vary widely as timetables are revised, and may be reduced if a train is running late.
Only your carriage attendant knows the precise amount of time for the train you’re on. Don’t stray far from the train as it will probably move off without a whistle or other signal (except in China) and passengers can be left behind. Three of us, our carriage attendant included, were once almost left in sub-zero temperatures on the platform of a tiny Siberian station when the train left five minutes ahead of schedule.
Time zones
All trains in Russia run on Moscow time (MT). Siberian time zones are listed throughout the route guide; major cities include Novosibirsk (MT+3), Irkutsk (MT+5), Khabarovsk (MT+7) and Vladivostok (MT+7). Moscow time is four hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+4) when Russia is on Daylight Savings Time, from the last Sunday in March to the last Saturday in October; for the rest of the year MT = GMT+3 (although time differences with most countries of Europe, which also use DST, remain constant throughout the year). Note that China has a single time zone, GMT+8, for the whole country and for the whole year. Mongolian time is GMT+8.
TRANS-SIBERIAN ROUTE (SAMPLE SECTION)
Km0: Moscow (Cyrillic text)
Yaroslavsky Station (Cyrillic text) Most Trans-Siberian trains depart from Moscow’s Yaroslavsky station, on pl Komsomol (metro: Komsomolskaya). Yaroslavsky station is very distinctive, built in 1902 as a stylized reproduction of an old Russian terem (fort), its walls decorated with coloured tiles.
Note that a few services to or from Siberian destinations via Yekaterinburg – including Nos 15/16 Yekaterinburg and the following: Nos 31/32 Novokuznetsk, No 36 Barnaul/Biisk, Nos 59/60 Tyumen, Nos 75/76 Tynda, Nos 91/92 Severobaikalsk, Nos 117/118 Novokuznetsk, Nos 907/908 Krasnoyarsk and Nos 937/938 Tyumen – depart from adjacent Kazansky Station, also on pl Komsomol. Check your ticket.
Get to the station early as trains invariably leave on time. Carriages have destination plates fixed to their sides but any railway official will point you in the right direction if you show them your ticket. If you’re arriving in Moscow from Siberia and leaving again by train the same day, you may need to take the metro or a taxi to one of the city’s nine other stations.
Km13: Los (Cyrillic text) Just after this station, the train crosses over the Moscow Ring Road. This road marks the city’s metropolitan border and in order to stop the lavatories being used in urban areas loo doors remain bolted until this point.
Km15: Taininskaya (Cyrillic text) A post-Soviet monument here, dedicated to Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II, says, ‘To Tsar Nikolai II from the Russian people with repentance’.
Km18: Mytishchi (Cyrillic text) (pop: 156,000) is famous for three factories. The railway carriage factory, Metrovagonmash, manufactured all the Soviet Union’s metro cars and now builds the N5 carriages to be seen in Moscow’s metro. There is a museum at the factory, although the best metro museum is in Moscow (see p174).
The Mytishchinsky monument factory, the source of many of those ponderous Lenin statues that once littered the country, has at last been forced to develop a new line. It now churns out the kind of ‘art’ banned in the Soviet era: religious statues, memorials to the victims of Stalin’s purges and busts of mafia bosses. Some of its earlier achievements displayed in Moscow include the giant Lenin in front of Oktyabrskaya metro station, an equestrian statue of Moscow’s founder, Yuri Dolgoruky, on pl Tverskaya, and the Karl Marx across from the Bolshoi Theatre.
Production has also slowed at the armoured vehicle factory, one of Russia’s three major tank works, the others being in the Siberian cities of Kurgan and Omsk.
The smoking factories and suburban blocks of flats are now left behind and you roll through forests of pine, birch and oak. Amongst the trees there are picturesque wooden dachas where many of Moscow’s residents spend their weekends. You pass through little stations with long, white-washed picket fences.
Km54: Fryazevo (Cyrillic text) This is the junction with the line to Moscow’s Kursky station. Although km posts here say 54km you’re actually 73km from Moscow’s Yaroslavsky station. (Turn to p448 if you’re travelling via Yaroslavl).
Km68: Pavlovsky Posad (Cyrillic text) This ancient town is a centre of textile manufacturing. The local museum is famous for its large collection of scarves and handkerchiefs but unless you have a very special interest in such items it’s probably not worth getting off the train.
Km90: Orekhovo (Cyrillic text) The town, at the junction with the line to Aleksandrov, is the centre of an important textile region. It gained its pre-revolutionary credentials in 1885 with the Morozov strike, the largest workers’ demonstration in Russia up to that time.
Km106: Pokrov (Cyrillic text) It was in the nearby village of Novoselovo that Yuri Gagarin, the world’s first astronaut, died in a plane crash in 1968. He was piloting a small aircraft when another plane flew too close. The resulting turbulence forced his aircraft into a downward spin which he was unable to correct.
Km126: Petushki (Cyrillic text) If you ever see a communist-era film with bears in it, chances are it was shot in the countryside around Petushki. The town’s most famous attraction is the nearby zoo, source of many animals used in Russian movies. Petushki sits on the left bank of the Klyazma River.
Km135: Kosterevo (Cyrillic text) The 19th-century painter Isaak Levitan lived near here. His house has been moved into Kosterevo and opened as a museum.
Km161: Undol (Cyrillic text) The station is named after Russian bibliographer VM Undolsky, who was born near here. The town is known as Lakinsk after MI Lakin, a revolutionary killed here in 1905. But the area is probably best known for its brewery, a Soviet-era Czechoslovak joint venture. Lakinsk beer, very popular in the 1990s, is now under strong competition from Western brands.
Approaching Vladimir you can see the domes of the Assumption Cathedral, built in 1160, rising above the city.
Km191: Vladimir (Cyrillic text) (lll) [see p205]
Vladimir was founded in 1108. In 1157 it became capital of the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal and therefore politically the most important city in Russia. It’s worth visiting for its great Assumption Cathedral, and as a stepping-stone to the more interesting town of Suzdal, 35km away, and the wonderful Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, 10km from Vladimir.
Km202: Bogolyubovo (Cyrillic text) [see p209]
Visible from the train (N) about 1.5km east of Bogolyubovo is the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, one of Russia’s loveliest and most famous churches. Built in 1165, the single-domed church sits in the middle of a field at the junction of the Nerl and Klyazma rivers. It was constructed in a single summer on the orders of Andrei Bogolyubsky, in memory of his son who died in battle against the Volga Bulgars. It was built on this prominent spot to impress visiting ambassadors. To symbolize Vladimir’s inheritance of religious authority from Byzantium and Kiev the church was consecrated and a holiday declared without permission being sought.
Km240: Novki (Cyrillic text) This large town at the junction of the line to Ivanovo boasts one of Russia’s ugliest stations. The original building is about a century old. In the 1980s, in an attempt to make it appear contemporary, it was encased in pink and fawn tiles. The result is a monumental eyesore.
About 13km eastward the train crosses the wide Klyazma River. The original bridge, built in the 1890s, was washed away in a flood. To avoid the problems of extending a new bridge across the river, engineers came up with a clever alternative. They built a bridge on dry land, on the inside of a bend in the river 1km to the west, then dug a canal beneath the bridge, detoured the river through it and filled in the old river bed. As you pass by you can see the old river course on each side of the bridge’s eastern embankment.
Km255: Kovrov (Cyrillic text) This ancient town gets its name from kovyor, the Russian word for ‘carpet’. During the Mongol Tatar’s reign in the 14th century, the local tax collector accepted carpets as one of the tributes.
The town’s most famous son was engineer Vasili Alekseyevich Degtyarev (1879-1949), father of the Soviet machine-gun. The Degtyarev factory, founded here in 1916, now manufactures motorcycles, scooter engines and small arms. In the town centre there is a monument to Degtyarev, holding an engineering micrometer rather than a gun. His grave is nearby and his house at ul Degtyareva 4 has been turned into a museum.
Kovrov is also famous for its excavator factory founded in the mid-19th century to build and maintain railway rolling stock. Its claims to fame include the world’s first steam-heated passenger carriage (1866) and Russia’s first hospital carriage (1877). The factory’s importance is illustrated by large, colourful murals of digging machinery on the sides of Kovrov’s nine-storey accommodation blocks. There’s a museum devoted to this factory at ul Bortsov 1.
Km295: Mstera (Cyrillic text) The village of the same name, 14km from the station, is famous for its folk handicrafts and has lent its name to particular styles of miniature painting and embroidery. Mstera miniatures, notable for their deep black background and warm, soft colours, usually depict scenes from folklore, history, literature and everyday life. They are painted in tempera (from pigments ground in water and mixed with egg yolk) onto papier-mâché boxes and lacquered to a high sheen. Mstera embroidery is characterized by two types of stitch, called white satin stitch and Vladimir stitch. A large range of products is on display and for sale at the little museum in the village.
Km315: Vyazniki (Cyrillic text) The name means ‘little elms’, after the trees on the banks of the Klyazma River among which this ancient village’s first huts were sited. The town got on the map when pilgrims started flocking here after 1622 to see the miracle-working Kazan Mother of God icon. Vyazniki became famous for its icon painters, with two local masters invited in the mid-17th century to paint cathedral icons in Moscow’s Kremlin.
Km363: Gorokhovets (Cyrillic text) One of the smallest of the Golden Ring towns, Gorokhovets (about 10km from the station) is worth visiting as it gives a different perspective on these ancient towns while allowing you to observe life in what is now a quiet Russian village. Gorokhovets was first mentioned in 1239 when it was burned down by the Tatar-Mongols. A fortress was built on top of the hill overlooking the town but this was destroyed in 1619 by marauding Ukrainian Cossacks under Polish command.
Architectural highlights include the Purification of the Virgin Monastery (1698) and the St Nicholas Monastery (1681-6), both of which have high, open stairways, pilasters at the corners and intricate window frames. There are also several unusual two-storey stone houses from the second half of the 17th century which were designed to imitate traditional Russian wooden mansions. Also of interest is the former ostrog complex, used as a stopping-point for prisoners on their way to Siberia.
Km442: Nizhny Novgorod/Gorky (Cyrillic text) (ll–lll) [see p216] With a population of about 1.3 million, Nizhny Novgorod (still called Gorky on train timetables) is Russia’s fourth-largest city after Moscow, St Petersburg and Novosibirsk. It was closed to foreigners until 1991 but tourists have now returned to this attractive Golden Ring city.
East of Nizhny Novgorod the train crosses the mighty Volga River, which is about 1km wide at this point. In times gone by Russians held this river in such esteem that train passengers would stand and take off their hats to Mother Volga as the train rattled onto the first spans of the long bridge. Rising in the Valdai hills, Europe’s longest river meanders 3700km down to the Caspian Sea. It is to Russia what the Nile is to Egypt: a source of life and a thoroughfare. There are armed guards stationed at both ends of the bridge.
Km509: Semyonov (Cyrillic text) Settled in the 18th century by Old Believers (see p64), Semyonov still boasts many buildings from that period, identified by the five or six windows on each façade, walls covered with intricate carvings, high surrounding fences, wicket gates and large prayer rooms. In the 19th century the town became famous for rosary beads and other products of its woodworkers. It was later known for a particular form of khokhloma painting – fine golden patterns of flowers on a red or black background. A khokhloma school was founded here in 1925.
Km531: Ozero (Cyrillic text) To the left of the station (whose name means ‘lake’) is shallow Svetloyar Lake, at the bottom of which, according to legend, is the invisible village of Kitezh.
Km623: Uren (Cyrillic text) The town was founded deep in the forests by Old Believers fleeing from persecution in the 18th century. Little remains from this period and the town’s major industry is a (struggling) factory producing work clothes.
Km682: Shakhunya (Cyrillic text) This town near the Shakhunya River derives its name from the Russian word shag (‘step’) as the river was so narrow here that it could be crossed in one jump. The town grew in the 1930s when the railway line between Nizhny Novgorod and Vyatka was built. Most buildings are two- and five-storey apartment blocks from the 1950s, but 1930s wooden workers’ barracks can still be seen.
Km701: Tonshayevo (Cyrillic text) Confusingly, the town around the station is called Shaigino while the town of Tonshayevo is 10km to the south-east.
Km743: Sherstki (Cyrillic text) This station, on the border between Nizhny Novgorodskaya and Kirovskaya oblasts, also marks the first step away from Moscow time.
––––––––––––––– Km 743-1266 TIME ZONE MT + 1 ––––––––––––––––
Km870: Kotelnich (Cyrillic text) (pop: 35,700) This station sits at the junction of the Trans-Siberian (Moscow–Vladimir–Nizhny Novgorod–Vyatka) line and the Moscow–Yaroslavl–Vyatka line. For Yaroslavl this is not the place to change lines; instead go 87km east to the major city of Vyatka (Kirov) where tickets are much easier to get.
Kotelnich is an ancient commercial centre on the right bank of the Vyatka River, a major trading route between Arkhangelsk and the Volga region. Finding your way around the town is not easy as it lies in three ravines with only the town centre laid out in an orderly fashion. Here the major thoroughfare is ul Moskovskaya and along part of it are a number of buildings built in Vyatka Provincial Style from 1850 to 1880. Sights include the John the Baptist (Predtichi) Monastery and the Presentation of the Virgin (Vvedenski) Nunnery. The town has a museum.
After leaving the station, the train crosses over the Vyatka River. This is the 10th longest river in European Russia, meandering for 1367km, and the Trans-Siberian crosses over it several times. When the train reaches the Vyatka River basin a few kilometres to the west of Kotelnich there is a noticeable change in the landscape as forests give way to fields and more frequent villages.
TRANS-MANCHURIAN ROUTE (SAMPLE SECTION)
For the entire Trans-Manchurian line we use (E) and (W) to show which side of the train points of interest are located. Thus if you’re coming from Moscow (E) means the left side of the train, (W) the right.
Km6199: Chita (Cyrillic text) (lll) This is the last major Trans-Siberian station before Trans-Manchurian trains branch off to China. Detailed information on Chita is on p272. If you’re coming from China turn to p399.
Km6293: Karymskaya (Cyrillic text) (lll) The branch line to Beijing via Manchuria leaves the main Trans-Siberian route at Tarskaya (formerly Kaidalovo), 12km east of Karymskaya. Leaving Tarskaya you cross the Ingoda River and head through open steppeland.
Some 20km further south you enter the Buryat Republic (Buryatia). The train makes brief stops at Adrianovka (Cyrillic text, Km6314), and Mogoytuy (Cyrillic text, Km6370).
Km6444: Olovyannaya Cyrillic text (l–ll) The 120-flat apartment block by the station was constructed by Chinese labourers using Chinese materials. It was one of many barter deals between the Zabaikalsk (Russia) and Harbin (China) railways. Since 1988, when the first barter contract was signed, most deals have involved Russia swapping fertilizers, old rails and railway wheel sets for Chinese food, clothes and shoes. As confidence has grown Harbin Railways has provided specialist services such as doctors of traditional Chinese medicine for railway staff at nearby Karpovka, uniforms for Zabaikalsk workers, and reconstruction specialists for Chita 2 and Petrovsky Zavod stations.
Leaving this picturesque town you cross the Onon River, which flows north of the main Trans-Siberian line, joining the Ingoda to form the Shilka. Genghis Khan (see p420) was born on the banks of the muddy Onon in 1162. It might be wise to avoid taking photographs out the windows here, as there were once said to be ballistic missile facilities in the town’s outskirts.
Between Olovyannaya and Borzya you cross the Adun Chelon mountain range, passing through Yasnaya (Km6464) and Byrka (Km6477).
Km6486: Mirnaya (Cyrillic text) At the western end of the station there are two small tanks whose guns appear to be aimed at the train.
Km6509: Khadabulak (Cyrillic text) This small village is below a large hilltop telecommunications tower. There are long views northwards across the plains to the surrounding hills.
Km6543: Borzya (Cyrillic text) (lll) This town was founded in the 18th century and with the arrival of the railway became the transport hub for the south-east Zabaikalsk region. A branch line runs westwards all the way to the Mongolian city of Choibalsan. Black marketeers come aboard (if you’re coming from Beijing) to tempt you with army uniforms, military watches and rabbit-fur hats. Watch your valuables.
There are several opportunities for photographs along the train as it snakes around the curves between Km6554 and Km6570, and especially Km6564-5 (W).
Km6590: Kharanor (Cyrillic text) (l) There is a branch line from here to the east which runs to the military towns of Krasnokamensk and Priargunsk.
Km6609: Dauriya (Cyrillic text) (l) This small village is surrounded by a marsh of red weeds.
Km6661: Zabaikalsk (Cyrillic text) (lll++) This town is within 1km of the border. Customs declarations and passports are checked on the train.
The train is shunted into the bogie-changing sheds at the south end of the station. You can either stay at the station, remain in the carriage or get out and watch the bogie-changing. Taking photos in the sheds was once strictly prohibited but is now permitted. You’ll have to stay at the station for two to six hours.
The station has a restaurant which just about serves hot borshch and warm goulash to Russians or anybody with Russians, but is shy of serving anyone else. There is a bank upstairs with predictably poor rates. Black marketeers will catch you on your way in and this is probably the only time that it’s worth using them. The lavatories are bearable if you hold your breath. In the building opposite the station and across the line there is a shop selling vodka, champagne and palekh boxes. There’s a small department store next door.
THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Note that kilometre markers between the border and Harbin show the distance to Harbin, while those further on show the distance to Beijing.
Km935 (Bei:2323): Manzhouli (lll++) (651m/2135ft, pop: 150,000) At this Chinese border town (once known as Manchuria Station) you must fill out currency and health declarations if you’re arriving in China or, if you’re leaving, fill out a departure card and present your currency declaration form. The train spends one to three hours here so you can visit the bank and the Friendship Store (tins of good quality peanuts, Chinese vodka, beer and fake sports clothes); postcards and stamps are also available. Puffing steam locomotives shunt carriages around the yard, a particularly impressive sight if you arrive in the early hours of a freezing winter morning.
Leaving the station you pass Lake Dalai Nor and roll across empty steppeland. You may see mounted herders, as did Michael Myres Shoemaker in 1902 when he passed through on his journey to Peking. Of the first Chinese person he saw, he wrote (in The Great Siberian Railway from St Petersburg to Pekin) ‘these northern Celestials appear on the whole friendly, and are flying around in all directions swathed in furs, and mounted on shaggy horses.’ European newspapers of the time had been filled with reports of atrocities committed by the xenophobic Boxer sect in Manchuria, hence his surprise at the apparent friendliness of the local population.
Km749 (Bei:2137): Hailar (ll) (619m/2030ft) Rolling steppes continue from here to Haiman. If you’d been travelling in 1914 you would have the latest edition of Baedeker’s Russia with Teheran, Port Arthur and Peking with you and would therefore be looking out for ‘the fortified station buildings (sometimes adorned with apes, dragons and other Chinese ornaments), the Chinese carts with their two high wheels and the camels at pasture’. Modern Hailar is an unexotic city of 170,200 people, the economic centre of the region. Local architecture is a blend of Russian and Mongolian, including log cabins, some with yurt-style roofs. The average temperature in this area in January is a cool minus 27°C.
Km674 (Bei:2062): Haiman Also known as Yakoshih, this town stands near the foot of the Great Khingan Range which extends from the Russian border southwards into Inner Mongolia. The line begins to rise into the foothills of the range.
Km634 (Bei:2022): Mianduhe The train continues to climb the gently rising gradient.
Km564 (Bei:1952): Xinganling/Khingan (958m/3140ft) This station stands at the highest point on the Trans-Manchurian line. The 3km tunnel built here in 1901-2 was a considerable engineering achievement since most of the drilling was done during the winter, with shift workers labouring day and night.
Km539 (Bei:1927): Boketu (ll) The line winds down partly-wooded slopes to the town of Balin/Barim (Bei: 1866) and continues over the plains, leaving Inner Mongolia and crossing into Heilongjiang Province.
Km270 (Bei:1658): Angangxi (ll–lll) (pop: 67,900) About 40km southwards is the ancient city of Qiqihar (Tsitsikar). By the time he reached this point Michael Myres Shoemaker had become bored with watching ‘Celestials’ from the windows of the train and was tired and hungry. He writes ‘In Tsitsikar, at a wretched little mud hut, we find some hot soup and a chop, also some coffee, all of which, after our days in lunch baskets, taste very pleasant.’
Over lunch they may well have discussed the nearby Field of Death for which the city was notorious. In this open area on the edge of Qiqihar public executions were regularly performed. Most of the criminals decapitated before the crowds were hunghutzes (bandits). Since the Chinese believed that entry to Heaven was denied to mortals who were missing parts of their bodies, their heads had to be sewn back in place before a decent burial could take place. However, so as not to lower the moral tone of Paradise, the government ordered that the heads be sewn on backwards.
Some 20km east of Angangxi is a large area of marshland, part of which has been designated a nature reserve. The marsh attracts a wide variety of waterfowl since it is on migration routes from the Arctic and Siberia down to southern Asia. The Zhalong Nature Reserve, 20km north of here, is best known for its cranes. Several of these (including the Siberian Crane) are now listed as endangered species.
Km159 (Bei:1547): Daqing (l–ll) At the centre of one of the largest oilfields in China, Daqing is a model industrial town producing plastics and gas as well as oil. Higher wages attract model workers from all over the country. But apart from the thousands of oil wells in this swampy district there’s very little to see.
Km96 (Bei:1484): Song This small station is in an island of cultivation amongst the swamps.
Km0 (Bei:1388): Harbin (lll) (152m/500ft, pop: 9,400,000) [see p339] Crossing the wide Sungari (Songhua) River, a 1840km-long tributary of the Amur to the north, the line reaches Harbin, industrial centre of Heilongjiang Province. It was a small fishing village until the mid 1890s when the Russians made it the headquarters of their railway building operations in Manchuria.
After Michael Myres Shoemaker visited the town in 1902 he wrote: ‘The state of society seems even worse at this military post of Harbin than in Irkutsk. There were seven throats cut last night, and now, as a member of the Russo-Chinese Bank expressed it, the town hopes for a quiet season.’ The Imperial Japanese Railways Guide to East Asia (1913) recommended ‘the excellent bread and butter, which are indeed the pride of Harbin’ and warned travellers away from the numerous opium dens.
After the Revolution, White Russian refugees poured into the town and Russian influence on the place continued. There are few onion-domes or spires to be seen in what is today just another Chinese city: the Russian population is now small.
The city’s main tourist attraction is its Ice Lantern Festival, which takes place from January to early February. Winters here are particularly cold and during the festival the parks are filled with ice-sculptures: life-size elephants, dragons and horses as well as small buildings and bridges. Electric lights are frozen into these sculptures and when they are illuminated at night, the effect is spectacular.
At the station you can get good views along the track of the numerous steam locos, from the bridges between the platforms.
Between Harbin and Changchun you cross an immense cultivated plain, leaving Heilongjiang and entering Jilin Province.
Km1260: The line crosses a wide tributary of the Songhua River. There are numerous small lakes in the area.
Km1146: Changchun (l) (230m/760ft, pop: 2,780,000) Changchun is the provincial capital. The station is worth a stroll, with white concrete sculptures of ‘The Graces’ and lots to buy from snack sellers on the platform.
Back in 1913 the Imperial Japanese Government Railways Guide to East Asia was reminding its readers (all of whom would have had to change at this large junction) about ‘the need of adjusting their watches – the Russian railway-time being 23 minutes earlier than the Japanese’. From 1933 to 1945 Changchun was the centre of the Japanese puppet-state of Manchukuo.
It has now grown into an industrial metropolis of almost three million people. Local industries include a car factory where Red Flag limousines are assembled (guided tours possible), a rail-carriage factory and film studios. If you do get off here, local delicacies include antler broth, hedgehog hydnum stewed with orchid, and a north-eastern speciality, qimian, which is the nose of a moose.
But Changchun is probably more popular with rail enthusiasts than with epicureans. RM Pacifics and QJ 2-10-2s are to be seen here and on the Changchun–Jilin line.
Km1030: Siping (l) This unattractive town does have lots of working steam locos in the station. About 10km further south the train crosses the provincial border into Liaoning Province.
Km841: Shenyang (lll) (50m/160ft, pop: 6,730,000) An industrial giant founded 2000 years ago during the Western Han dynasty (206BC-AD24). At different times during its long history the city has been controlled by Manchus (who named it Mukden), Russians, Japanese and the Kuomintang, until it was finally taken over by Chinese communists in 1948. Shenyang is now one of the largest industrial centres in the People’s Republic, but between the factories there are several interesting places to visit, including a small version of Beijing’s Imperial Palace. There is also a railway museum beside the Sujiatun shed. The station has a green dome and the square outside it is dominated by a tank on a pedestal.
Km599: Jinzhou (l) From here the line runs down almost to the coast, which it follows south-west for the next 300km, crossing into Hebei Province. Beijing is just under eight hours from here.
Km415: Shanhaiguan (ll) As you approach the town from the north, you pass through the Great Wall – at its most eastern point. This end of the Wanlichangcheng (Ten Thousand Li Long Wall) has been partially done up for the tourists. Although the views here are not as spectacular as at Badaling (70km north of Beijing, see p346), the restoration at Shanhaiguan has been carried out more sympathetically – it is restoration rather than reconstruction. The large double-roofed tower houses an interesting museum.
Km262: Tangshan (l) (pop: 1,787,000) This was the epicentre of an earthquake which demolished this industrial town on 28 July 1976. The official death toll stands at 150,000 but may have been as high as 750,000. Many of the factories have been rebuilt and the town is once again producing consumer goods. Locomotives are built here at the Tangshan Works, which until 1991 produced the SY class 2-8-2 steam engine.
Km133: Tianjin/Tientsin (ll) (pop: 10,200,000) This is one of China’s largest ports. In the mid-19th century the British and French marched on the capital and ‘negotiated’ the Treaty of Peking which opened Tianjin to foreign trade. Concessions were granted to foreign powers just as they were in Shanghai. Britain, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Japan and the United States each controlled different parts of the city, which accounts for the amazing variety of architectural styles to be found here.
Chinese resentment at the foreign presence boiled over in 1870 in an incident that came to be known as the Tientsin Massacre, during which ten nuns, two priests and a French official were murdered. To save female babies from being killed by their parents (the Chinese have always considered it far more important to have sons than daughters) the nuns had been giving money for them. This had led more gullible members of the community to believe rumours that the nuns were eating the children or grinding up their bones for patent medicines.
One of several ferry services between China and Japan (see p37) terminates at Tianjin.
Km0: Beijing The beginning or the end? You are now 9001km from Moscow. See p343 for information on the city.
|
