Harbin

So Sun Qian, actually, this was something that I came across.

Um, she has a pretty connection with, uh, Tao, so with Flora, because, uh, Sun Qian is originally from Harbin, which is where, um, Flora is from.

And then she came to Beijing to become an actress, just like Tao came to, you know, to Beijing to get on with her career.

So she felt really, like, in the behind-the-scenes and in interviews she said she felt a really, really big connection with the character because of that little, um, you know, nugget.

After the breakup.

After the breakup.

When she goes back home, she's in Harbin.

Yeah, she's in Harbin.

I am sitting at the small wooden table near the glass, watching the drops trace slow paths through the dust on the pane and feeling the particular weight of a last morning.

It is not a heavy weight exactly, but it is dense with the knowledge that this room, this street, this city will soon be behind me, replaced by the long rail journey north toward Harbin.

The air inside is cool, kept at a comfortable temperature by the central heating system that seems to kick in even in September when the nights grow sharp and the smell of roasted beans lingers in the corner where the espresso machine hisses softly.

This is MTO Coffee Shop, a place I have come to know well over these past eight days, a spot where the light falls in straight, honest lines across the tables, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the quiet hum of the morning.

It is about understanding the pulse of a place, the rhythms of its people, and the stories that are written in the landscape.

From the wind-solar projects on the desert edges to the ancient temples of Kulun Banner, Every corner of Inner Mongolia holds a piece of the puzzle, and as I continue north, toward Harbin and the Harvest Country of the Northeast, I carry these moments with me, fragments of a life lived in the margins of the map, where the world is wide and the sky is endless.

Everything I've talked about and where to sort it is in the episode notes.

That's primarily sixteenth, seventeenth century, and it's associated, of course, with the, uh, the Age of Exploration when Europe began to penetrate the Far East and, and try to engage in trade and sometimes conquest with, uh, Asia.

Uh, then the third period, uh, is the late nineteenth century, where you have a lot of Russian Jews, in particular Ashkenazim, making their way down to places like Harbin, which is on the mainland-

Mm-hmm

... and also trading with Japan through the ports where foreigners were allowed.

It's his first Hebrew, you know, Jewish book, so to speak, uh, besides the Tanakhs he's bought, and then they go back to Japan.

He's married and, uh, has children at this point.

And, uh, in the 1930s, he's stationed in Manchukuo, and this is when the Japanese begin to start saying, "Okay, what are we gonna do with the Jews? Can we just figure out what exactly is the story with the Jews?" And they organize these various conferences, one in particular in Harbin, which is on the Chinese mainland, but controlled by Japan.

Uh, and they bring all the Jews there to say, "Okay, what's your deal? Who are you? What do you want?" And, um, and this guy, Setsuko, is invited, and he gets up, and he gives a speech in biblical Hebrew.

But with this flash charging, that probably won't become a, that won't be so much of an issue, I think.

[laughs] I, I was actually looking at booking a holiday to Harbin, uh-

Yes

...

One day's enough.

[laughs]

If you want, if you want to experience, even just to get to see for anyone that's interested, and a good friend of, of ours and the show, Mark Rainford, he's done, uh, a bit of a trip to Harbin a couple of years ago in a Zeekr Mix.

Um, and he shows how beautiful the place is, but yeah, it is bloody cold.