Walking Manzhouli | Don't Believe The Hype

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The four of us pose for a final photo. — Friends with benefits.

Having slept as well as can be expected, we pack up and break camp.

My friends try to find a car to take us back into town. Our taxi driver from yesterday waited while we visited the various attractions on our route. But apparently waiting overnight in a cramped taxi, on the cold shores of a windy lake, was not part of the deal.

After pulling the tent down, we’re left with a pile of plastic bottles and noodle packets. The guys are keen to leave everything in a pile in the grass, as that’s what you do here. I am not so keen, and try to persuade them to help me carry it down to a recycling bin I found the day before.

They try to convince me that we really should just leave it on the grass, as someone will come and get it. But I see lots of other rubbish lying around. I assume that even if someone does stumble across our abandoned campsite, they will at best scavenge for things that are worth something, and leave the rest to be disseminated by the strong wind.

In the end a compromise is made. We drop the recyclables in a pile near a seaside cottage. It doesn’t deliver the same happy glow as dropping plastics into a green bin emblazoned with a progressive logo, but it will have to do.

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A scale model Armoured Personnel Vehicle is the size of a large cat and flies the Chinese flag. — Flying the flag.

Hip flasks form a line in a shop window. — Mongolian horses and women in strange headdress are joined at the hip.

Ornate vases and bullet-shaped vodka bottles in a shop window. — Vases and vodka.

The most fun you can have on two wheels.

A NewBarlun shop sells New Balance shoes. — But if it sounds to good to be true..

The flat deck of a small ute is covered in red apples. — Comparing apples with apples.

Small pot plants adorn a back-to-front tricycle. — This flower seller had all three wheels planted firmly on the ground.

A model reindeer has white legs and a brown body with white spots. — Santa is looking for you.

Back in town, I leave my friends at the hostel and set off on foot for some Dan-time.

The city is a strange place. The shop windows are full of duty free booze, packaged in bottles, shell and grenade casings, and canteens. Chinggis Khan sells for $25, for a large canteen, and $7 for a small.

But there are also Matryoshka dolls, vases, reindeer, fashion faux pas, scale model armoured personnel vehicles and bicycles.

And the commerce spills out onto the streets, too.

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A stunt BMX is painted with spots and a cheetah. — Speed freak.

Bicycles and motorcycles are lined up on the footpath. — Ho Hum.

A 10 speed has narrow handlebars and pink rims. — Mr Pink.

An electric scooter looks like a trigger happy pistol. — Lethal weapon.

A brown rocking horse wears a red cowboy scarf. — Ok you got me, but this little fella was so cute, and you can ride him, you see..

I’m happy to stumble over interesting rides on a regular basis.

As well as assorted bicycles, electric scooters are popular here too. They slip silently past almost luxury cars.

And friendly Asian faces contrast with their more gangster looking Russian counterparts.

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A bronze statue of a seated man wearing a hat, trench coat and boots, and holding his hands up as if to hold reins. — Left holding the reins.

Bronze statues of four dogs and a horse, pulling the same man. — Dog tired.

Bronze statues of a fit man, wife and child. — Bum bag, immortalised.

Statues of a young lady with arms folded and a man with a telescope. — Striking a pose.

Bronze statues of skaters really look like they are moving - quickly! — Hardened skaters.

The footpath is filled with motorcycles and Shabby Chic leather couches. — Ass parking.

And then there are the bronze statues.

This city certainly has more than its fair share.

They seem ancient, but upon closer inspection there are giveaways, like roller blades, and a bum bag..

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Sliced vegetables wrapped in flat bread. — An awesome wrap.

Street vendors lie in wait to fill hungry tourist tummies.

I snack on some sweet corn on the cob and an awesome wrap.

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A large apartment block stands watch over a derelict shack covered in telephone numbers. — Who has the better view?

Cracked plastic reveals a less substantial side to a classical column. — Crumbling infrastructure

Cars and trucks line an alleyway between two large ornate buildings. — Corridors of masonry.

The local bankʼs roof used metal scaffolding to support large golden letters spelling out the bankʼs name. — Bold signage.

Large classical apartment blocks form a backdrop to muddy tyre tracks from two diggers. — Work in progress?

People stroll around the dirty banks of the local lake. — Promenade.

Steeples adorn the roof of the local bank. — Bank of toy town.

A large red and gold banner promotes the 2015 commemoration of the victory against Japan. — With all the sandbags it looked like they were gearing up for another victory.

A large hotel in a tree lined street. — The sign for the Petersburg Hotel was in Chinese and English.

Stone elephants on pedestals flank a wooden doorway. — Watchmen.

Next stop, old Manzhouli.

Well, perhaps it is not so old, but the buildings have certainly seen better days. There are cracks in some and plaster is crumbling off the walls. I don’t feel particularly safe walking below the towering, ornamental facades.

But in other areas, new buildings are going up. Huge apartment buildings with lake views. The lake is a scum-filled mess, but perhaps it too is a work in progress. I hope so, for the sake of the new inhabitants.

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Cake replacements.

A young man clad all in black is also a developer. — IT, bringing people together.

All this walking is making me tired, so when I spy a cake sign it’s a done deal!

Except that it’s not. The lady who comes to take my order informs that there isn’t actually any cake. I spy beer in the fridge and decide that that is a pretty close second. After some discussion, the lady comes back with a large number of sweet buns. They are at least equal in mass to the absent cake.

Over a lonely saxophone jam, I hear two girls and a guy seated in the booth behind mine. They peer over the top and I invite them over. As seems to be somewhat usual now, one of the girls is madly interested in me and the other is like my cake – completely absent. Fan Ya Ru is the one paying attention and promptly signs me up to Whatsapp, because apparently everyone uses that here. I thought that everyone used We Chat.. but I guess there’s room for more than one messaging app in a country of over a billion people.

I learn that they are running the cafe and wonder what the child labour laws are like in this part of the world. The young man introduces himself and I discover that he is a fellow developer. He is very friendly and reminds me of myself, when I first got into web development. Perhaps it is the way that he is dressed, in black shoes, pants, shirt and jacket. It is both formal and casual, projecting confidence, while simultaneously trying to safeguard the recklessness of youth.