A scheduled part of the conference involved seeing Shu-Lin's Genomics Lab in the Harbin Medical University's First Hospital. I was less than enthused as a lab is a lab as far as I'm concerned but it was a point of pride for Shu-Lin and Glen wanted to see his set-up. So, on Tuesday morning we were up early to catch the bus at 8am. We waited in the lobby checking our email (it had a WiFi signal which is very unusual in China) and chatting with Chun-Xiao. The bus finally arrived at 8:45. We piled on then sat for another fifteen minutes. Without warning, everyone began leaving. All talk was in Chinese so we had no clue why.
We returned to the lobby only to be told to re-board the bus. I asked a gentleman who had spoken to me at coffee break the day before what was going on. Apparently because the bus was late, those checking out of the hotel would miss the noon deadline and could miss their flights home. This did not bode well for the length of our bus ride to the genomics lab. Sure enough, it took an hour to get there.
The lab was in an older hospital tucked in a neighbourhood of tiny streets. Much honking of horns happened before the driver finally parked in the cramped lot. Glen figured he'd never get out but he'd forgotten the skill of Harbin drivers. We were then ushered through the hospital's emergency department. Glen has done a similar walk at the Foothills Hospital and said it was nice that no one was being treated in the hallways like they are in Calgary.
I almost laughed out loud when I saw people in striped pajamas wandering the halls. I guess the pajamas were better than the gowns given to Canadian patients but it reminded me of old prison uniforms (last seen in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?).
A trainee of Shu-Lin's was our guide and he pretty much ignored the others, focussing on Glen. Of course, Glen hasn't worked in a lab for many years so wasn't sure how impressive this one was. He did explain one machine to me so wasn't completely ignorant but confessed later that he wouldn't know how to use it. These days, his 'labbies' bring him results so he doesn't have to know how the machines produce them. I took lots of pictures so he can show them what the place looked like.
After the tour, we piled into the bus again. It stopped once to let a group off at the train station and again on a major highway. Chun-Xiao and another student whose name I never learned, beckonned us to get off the bus. We were at the Forest Botanical Gardens. By this time, the lilacs had burst forth and the park was heady with their perfume. It is called a national forest park but I've never seen pine trees growing so evenly spaced; a tree at each corner of an invisible grid. However, it was a lovely peaceful place and we spent two hours wandering around it. Neither of our guides had ever been before and we think they clamored to join us as it gave them a holiday from their labwork.
This became obvious when one bought a bottle of bubbles and proceeded to 'play' with them. We all laughed when Glen got involved. It was nice to relax and have a little fun.
The forest garden also had a medicinal herb garden, multiple beds of tulips, a restricted zone for endangered plants, and a whole hill devoted to peonies (which had not yet bloomed). The tulips were wonderful and I had fun trying to capture their bright colours with my camera. A scruffy looking man was photographing his well-drssed wife. She insisted he take a picture of her with Glen and me. That's when I noticed his camera was an expensive, high-end Nikon. So much for the clothes defining the man.
The forest was also alive with school children on field trips. We found most were among the statues depicting the Chinese calendar or catching tadpoles in the bog garden. We'd just left the bog garden when a gust of wind whirled around us. I got hit in the head with a branch which scratched Glen as he grabbed for it. Of course, he bled but it wasn't a bad cut. We'd forgotten that Chun-Xiao's first degree was in medicine. As soon as we came to a kiosk selling drinks, she bought bandages and sani-wipes. While I took photos of a dragon mural, she tended to Glen's 'wound'. He did protest that it was minor but she'd hear nothing of that.
The Forest Botanical Gardens are more than just forest and flowers, they also have an amusement park, a climbing wall, and a zipline. We saw a man using the latter and the girls said they'd never do it. Glen told them I had done one and they found that hard to believe. Come to think of it, I find it hard to believe, too!
There was also a wedding pavilion and we saw two brides, one in traditional red, the other in white. As we passed the one in red, the new husband said hi so Glen told him how beautiful his bride was. She replied 'Thank you'. It's amazing how many Chinese in this town, not on the American tourist map, can speak English.
By this time we were all hungry so met up with a resident of the Second Harbin Medical University Hospital who drove us to lunch. He took a short cut through the hospital grounds and that's when I realized the market we passed on our way to the conference was for those wishing to buy gifts for patients inside. Not sure our hospitals would permit the fruits and vegetables from an outdoor market inside their walls but this was China.
After much discussion among the students, we ended up having lunch at one of their favourite haunts. We were honoured to be taken into a private room of the restaurant they called The King of the Dumplings. We had many dumpling dishes, all for under $3.00. One style had corn inside and another tomatoes (a taste sensation) as well as the usual pork. We also enjoyed what they referred to as eggplant sandwiches--small zucchini-sized eggplant stuffed with finely ground pork. Another plate was piled high with grilled beans and garlic. The tofu dish they called Japanese tofu looked like marshmallows with onions and green peppers (not sweet) but were soft and creamy when you bit into them. The salad course had unroasted peanuts in soy sauce which Glen loved. I told him that David taught his 3 year old daughter how to use chopsticks by having her pick up peanuts. One of the students asked if this were our first time in China and when we said yes, she complimented us on our use of chopsticks. She didn't realize we use them in the many Chinese restaurants in Canada.
We asked them if they ate pizza like other grad students do and they all said yes. We'd seen PizzaHut restaurants as well as KFC and McDonald's in Harbin. There were also wannabe versions where the logos were almost identical but they were all noodle houses.
Again we enjoyed Harbin beer while the students drank green tea. The girls kept Glen's glass full and at one point chastised the boy when he didn't do the same for me. I suppressed a smile when he quickly realized his mistake. Times are changing among Chinese youth where equality of the sexes is making headway.
After lunch, we returned to the hotel to pack. Although all the attention we received as honoured guests of the conference was nice, it was also good to have a quiet afternoon together. We had dinner in the hotel enjoying a plate of something Glen pointed to on the menu. It turned out to be deep fried hot peppers and breaded pork. We each drank two large bottles of beer to wash it down. The bill came to $12.00. There is no tipping in China.
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