Helper 2023

Introduction (also the ending)

All coincidences of names and situations are just my invention. However... Oh, okay, let's assume that this is all fiction!

Here is how it was...

I went to China.

A small digression. A fellow passenger on the bus told me this story. But I will tell it in the first person.

"Twenty T-shirts in packages, four bags - two gray, two black, a bag of towels, two black tablecloths, brown suede sneakers.
All this in one bag.
In the second bag: three pairs of boots - two for children, one for adults, a ski jacket, a sweatshirt. Yes, in addition to my personal bag weighing three kilograms. Total: 31 kilograms. I have to carry 31 kilograms across the border tomorrow! I hope my back can handle it?!"

I repeated this list all evening, afraid to forget, because tomorrow I had to transport all this goods across the border. Because this time, I went to Suifenhe City as a helper. A helper is a man or woman who, due to financial difficulties or something else, agrees to do hard work, carry a lot of weight, that is, heavy bags across the border. But I digress. So, the first drop with bags will take place at the bus station in the city of Suifenhe; the bags will need to be loaded onto the bus. The second throw is to take the bags out of the bus at the Chinese border, drag them across the border, and load them back onto the bus. Remember? I'm carrying 31 kilograms. The leader of the group monitors every tourist who is dragging bags, and swears very much when they do not carry the bags, but try to drag them through the snow.
And, the culmination of today's action is crossing the Russian border! The manager bites her lips, she is afraid that customs will suddenly stop one of the helpers, and he will forget and will not be able to list everything that is in the bags.

Hello! I am with you, writer Iren Mut. Here is the introduction, which is also the ending to the new story “Pomogaika 2”. Will you read?

So, we are no longer in China, but not yet in Russia. There is a group of helpers in front of us, and there are also tourists and helpers behind us. Noise, screams, showdown. The man whose group is passing behind us screams, rages, and uses obscenities. Next to him is either his family, or a group of helpers, I still don’t understand, it’s only clear that no one is going to object to the noisy man. The man screams so loudly and unpleasantly that tourists from other groups begin to turn around. His scream turns into a squeal, probably the way a boar screams when it catches up with its prey. Those next to him just lower their heads and remain silent. Strange relationship!

Morning of the first day

So, let's begin.
Let me remind you that a fellow traveler told me this story. When you travel on a bus to or from China, your fellow travelers quickly become almost like family, and their stories... I can listen to their stories endlessly!

I travel a lot around China. However, this journey did not work out the first time.
On the eve of the trip it was announced that heavy snow was approaching, then the expected snow was replaced by rain. Then the weather forecasters started talking about snow again. I was alarmed and asked a question to the leader of the tourist group with which I was supposed to go to China. WhatsApp buzzed and I received a message. The message said that the trip would take place, since the weather, apparently, was expected to be satisfactory. And so it turned out. However, it was raining outside, but it was warm. The wind was twisting the umbrella and it seemed to me that I would never reach the stop. When I go to China, I always walk to the stop where the bus will be waiting for me. And it doesn’t matter what time it is on the clock: 3:00 am, 4:00 am, 5:00 am - I always walk. It's probably because I'm afraid of being late. Therefore, the night before leaving, I hardly sleep, I’m afraid to oversleep. As soon as I imagine that the bus has arrived at the stop and I’m not there, I break out in a cold sweat. This is why I don’t trust taxis, I’m afraid that they will let me down, and I walk. By the way, it’s quite nice to walk through the city at night. There is no one, it’s empty, and only the lights are on. Half an hour's walk and I'm usually already at the bus stop. Even if it’s warm on the tour bus, which isn’t always the case, I get chills, worried about how the trip will go. That’s why a half-hour walk through the city at night guarantees that my body, hot from walking, will keep warm, even if it’s cold on the bus. However, this time, unfortunately, I got quite wet from the rain. The wind kept twisting the umbrella, which did not want to protect me from the rain. The hands aligned, the clock showed 5:00 in the morning, the half-empty bus pulled up to the stop, I climbed the steps and we drove off. The rain soaked my jacket and hat, I couldn’t get warm for a long time, and when I got warm, I thought, where is it taking me again? Why don’t I sleep at home, in a warm bed? After all, there are still a few hours until dawn!
Remember the song “Where the hell have you gone, sir? Can’t you afford peace?”
It's almost about me!
I could not describe the four-hour trip to the border; there was nothing interesting there. The bus stopped at certain intervalsI and tourists were climbing the steps. At some point the bus was packed to capacity and we drove off without stopping. However, I will have to describe something. The path to the border was almost completed when the bus turned around and we entered the territory of a bus station in some village. I thought that the bus would stop for a little while and we would move on, but that was not the case.
A small digression. When I got on at the bus stop at 5:00 am, there were several tour group leaders on the bus. The lights on the bus were dimmed, and I couldn’t really see the face of my tour group leader.
The retreat is over, and we are returning with you to the moment when the bus stopped in a certain locality. That is, this happened almost 4 hours away from Vladivostok. One of the leaders of the tourist groups gave an order, at that moment I was dozing, the tourists began to fuss and began to rise from their seats. I still didn't understand anything. Looking in the direction where the leader of my tourist group was sitting, I didn’t see her there; she got off the bus. There was no one to ask questions. The tourists began to leave the bus, and I naturally followed them. Slowing down a little, I looked back, it was damp, dirty, empty and dreary. At that moment I regretted that I went on this trip, but it was too late. Everyone was going somewhere and I followed them. Despite the fact that there was dampness in the air and for some reason there was a smell of coal, there was ice underfoot. My task was to avoid slippery areas so as not to fall and get hurt. At some point, I fell behind a bunch of tourists who were deftly walking in a direction that was clear only to them. However, it was impossible to get lost here. I walked around several locked buildings and entered the area where the voices were heard. Oops! This is something interesting. My fellow travelers entered the building without bags and came out with heavy bags. Moreover, people lined up, however, the line moved quickly. I was almost the last one to enter. The bags were shaped by a Chinese man and a Russian woman. They pushed me a bag containing something heavy and offered to carry it to the bus. I inquired about what was in the bag, and they told me that there were canned goods and cookies. As I understand it, the weight of the bag was 10 kg.
I hate carrying weights!
Until that moment, I always traveled to China with a bag on wheels, this same bag... However, I won’t lie, it was a simple cloth bag. My arms are weak, I can lift 10 kg. and I couldn’t drag it. So I dragged my bag, fortunately there was ice under my feet. The passenger in front of our bus made a remark to me, she told me not to drag my bag, but to carry it. Do you see that she feels sorry for the bag, but doesn’t she feel sorry for her hands? I gently but energetically sent her into unknown distances, that is, to where she was carrying her bag. Finally, the bus appeared, pushing my bag into the trunk, I looked at my hands. The palms were red. My hands were shaking, my cheeks were flushed, and the life ahead seemed gray and hopeless. However, as it turned out, my feat was useless. When I finally saw my supervisor and asked what to do next with the bag, she was surprised. Moreover, she was unhappy that I did something that I was not asked to do. Somehow, through the stump of the deck, I explained the situation. I said that an order had been received to go and carry the bags, but since I still didn’t know the leader well in person, I simply didn’t understand who exactly gave the order. In general, my work was in vain. However, my palms were swollen and itchy, and were completely unhappy with my poor head, because of which they had to do such work. Serves me right, there’s no point in being so absent-minded! The bags were packed, the tourists were counted, and the bus set off. I perked up a little; China was ahead. Another hour or two, and I will find myself in the Chinese city of Suifenhe.

Noon of the first day

The Customs Palace of the Chinese city of Suifenhe amazed me. Of course, I haven’t been here for five to seven years. As far as I remember, before there was just a room here that looked like a large hangar, but now the Chinese customs really looked like a marble palace. Marveling at this change, I prepared myself for a long wait at the border crossing, but despite my surprise, as soon as the clock struck noon, we entered the city of Suifenhe. However, that’s where all my joys ended. The bus stopped at a building with the pompous name "Snow Empire". I was delighted; my irrepressible imagination immediately drew a picture that was waiting for me. I imagined that my room in this hotel would match the name - it would be imperial! However, as it turned out, I chose the wrong word of these two words. We entered the building, but I immediately wanted to leave. Everything in the building's lobby was scary, shabby, and creepy. After walking a few meters, we entered the elevator and went up to the fourth floor. Actually, this was the hotel where we were supposed to live. The hotel was called Long Shen. The registration began, a middle-aged Chinese woman who responded to the Russian name Katya was dissatisfied with something. When I handed her my passport, she started something...mutter under her breath, then took my passport and threw me a magnetic door key. Naturally, I was outraged by this behavior. I saw this strange woman for the first time in my life and did not understand what was happening. Of course, I asked a question about the reason for such strange behavior, but in response I heard a jumble of Russian words and letters. It probably seemed to Katya that she spoke the purest Russian, but, unfortunately, I did not understand anything. The group leader smiled condescendingly and asked me not to bother. Well, something different has happened to me. Once, a Chinese woman accompanying me, in one of the Chinese cities, behaved in approximately the same way, and then it turned out that she was on her period, and it was because of this that the woman was inadequate. East is a delicate matter! But the Chinese woman Katya, judging by her age, should have already passed the threshold of all sorts of menstruation; most likely she was in menopause. Well, since middle-aged Chinese women have approximately the same physique and face, I can’t say exactly the age, she could be 40 years old or 60 years old.
So what did I have at the moment? Successful passage of the border, and plenty of time. My return trip to Russia was planned only for the day after tomorrow. There was enough time to walk around the Chinese city and do some shopping. However, an unpleasant surprise awaited me. I mean my snowy and frosty hotel room. The tourists who were in my group received keys to rooms on the sixth floor. That is, get in the elevator and go up to the sixth floor. For some reason, they gave me the key to room 307, which was on the third floor. The elevator didn’t go there, and for some reason my legs didn’t go there either. Everything was confusing; to reach the third floor, you had to get lost in a maze. That is, I had to go up the stairs, then down, then up again, and somewhere at the end of the corridor my room was waiting for me. Having overcome all obstacles with the help of Russian tourists from other groups and a Chinese bellhop, I finally reached my room. Room 307 greeted me with hellish cold, devastation and the smell of smoke. It seemed like they smoked here day and night. The smell of cigarettes permeated the walls, bed linen and pillows so much that I began to choke. The furniture in the room included: a bedside table, drawers in which were completely broken, beds in which the bed linen had holes and stains. There was also a window from which snow was blowing mercilessly and pouring in. Well, that's all. Having lowered my bag to the floor, I went back to wandering around the floors and finally came out to the administration booth, where Katya was sitting. The group leader was still there. After explaining the problem to the manager, I asked her to come with me. However, for some reason the manager was not impressed by the problems of the room where I was going to live for three days. Having given out a tirade that the Chinese woman Katya for some reason began to work poorly and that there was something wrong with this hotel, the manager left, and I... I stayed.
In addition to all the joys of this hotel room, it turned out that wi-fi was not available here. I entered the password that was indicated on the wall of the corridor of this floor ten times, but there was no result. I urgently needed to inform my family that I was already in China, I knew that they were worried and waiting for my message, but the wi-fi did not work. I asked Russian tourists to help, turned to the Chinese bellhop, climbed through the labyrinth, to where Katya sat on her throne, but achieved nothing - wi-fi did not work. I was cold, constantly sneezing from the smell of smoke that hung in the air. Finally, having convinced myself of the correctness of the Russian proverb that you can’t break through a wall with your forehead, I decided that I needed to go outside. The street of Suifenhe city greeted me with light snow and the smiles of Chinese passers-by. People I didn’t know greeted me and smiled. This is why I love China! Administrator Katya and other comrades from the merchant tribe are just an ugly commercial layer. Real impressions from communicating with the residents of the city of Suifenhe awaited me ahead and they were all positive. As for the afternoon that I met in the city of Suifenhe, the arrows rushed inexorably. I had to buy a Chinese SIM card to call home. Of course, I didn’t count on such an expense, but what can I do, I didn’t count on living in such a homeless room either. It was warmer outside than in the Snow Empire room and I walked until exhausted.

Evening and night of the first day

My dear readers, if you have read my first book, “Help,” then the city of Suifenhe should already be very familiar to you in absentia. And if you live in Vladivostok or the Primorsky Territory, and often travel to China, including the city of Suifenhe, you may have noticed that the city in the center has not changed much. Some buildings fell into disrepair, others, on the contrary, were demolished and replaced with new ones, but the general outline of the city center has changed little. The city has grown in size. When I first came to this city, I still found one-story village houses and slums, but now all this is gone. What used to be the outskirts is now just another area of the city. When I came to Suifenhe city, I alwaysI wanted to learn something new about its history, because the history of the city of Suifenhe is, among other things, the history of the Primorsky Territory and Vladivostok located not far from it. When I first came to this city in 2006, the city ended approximately where the indoor sports center is now. Then there was a wasteland on this place, and behind the wasteland there was a Botanical Garden. Beyond that there were only fields and wastelands. Now all these areas are built up. What am I talking about? Probably because I will not describe in detail the sights of the city of Suifenhe. If you are interested, you can read about this in my first book, “Help,” and in the book, “Singer for China.” In the book “A Singer for China,” I talked about how I lived and worked as a singer in the city of Suifenhe.
But I won’t spoil your reading experience, you can read about it yourself. So, the first evening and the first night at the Long Shen Hotel, which is located on the premises of the Snow Empire shopping center. Well, what can I say, I walked along the streets of Suifenhe while I could walk. When the streets began to empty, I went to the hotel. After the street, the temperature in the room did not seem so terrible to me. However, half an hour passed, and then another hour, and I began to shake. There was no question of taking a shower. I imagined myself coming out of the shower into a cold room, and I was starting to shake with redoubled force. Having somehow washed myself, I crawled under the blanket. However, the blanket did not provide any warmth. After suffering like this for two hours, I decided to do some exercises. You won’t believe it, I ran around the number like on a football field. After spending twenty-five minutes and running two kilometers, as my fitness watch showed, I warmed up a little. All this warmth was enough for me to fall asleep. I woke up at 3:00 am completely numb. I had to put on all the clothes I had and just go to bed under the covers. The night lasted endlessly, I turned on the TV, Russian channels were on. The Comedy Club residents joked, the audience laughed, and I finally fell asleep. I didn't turn off the TV. This is how my first evening and my first night went at the Long Shen Hotel, which is located in a room under the pompous name “Snow Empire” in the Chinese city of Suifenhe.

Morning of the second day

In China, cities are organized into provinces. Suifenhe City belongs to Hailongjiang Province. This province includes many cities, and the main city is Harbin. I have already said that my journey to China began in 2006, and the city of Suifenhe was the first Chinese city that I saw. To say that the city amazed me is to say nothing. However, on that summer day I did not have time to fully examine the city of Suifenhe; our path lay in the city of Harbin, and Suifenhe was only a transit city from where the train departed to the former Russian city of Harbin. I can't describe the feeling that morning when we drove into Suifenhe. Too many years have passed, but for some reason I remember the feeling of peace and quiet. We probably crossed the border quite early then. Well, I won’t guess, I’ll just repeat, the city of Suifenhe amazed me. Then, later, I visited several more cities in this province - the city of Mishan, Mudanjian, Jixi, but of course the cherry on the cake was always the city of Harbin. If we look at history, we can read that the city of Harbin, like the city of Suifenhe, began to develop when the railway appeared. By the way, this impetus, I mean the foundation and emergence of the railway, was an impetus for the development of the city of Vladivostok.
But let's return to Harbin. The city of Harbin... Before it emerged in its current form, Harbin was only a small village. When it was decided to build a railway, Russian specialists began to come to Harbin - engineers, railway workers, and so on. Russian churches, theaters, and gymnasiums began to be built in the city. On the other bank of the Songhua River, merchants' dachas appeared, where they grew traditional vegetables - tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and other summer snacks for the table, so beloved by Russians.
Time has changed everything, now Russian people come to Harbin only on excursions. Just a few years ago there were old-timers alive, that is, Russian people who considered Harbin their hometown. But now there is no one left. Not far from the Buddhist temple and park there is a cemetery where Soviet soldiers are buried in the ground; they died when they liberated Harbin from Japanese invaders in 1945. The Chinese take care of the cemetery. Unfortunately, during the troubled times called the Cultural Revolution, many Russian churches in Harbin were destroyed. There are now only a couple of churches left in all of Harbin. One of the churches, the Temple of Sophia, is now the hallmark of Harbin. There are no services held in this temple; the temple has become a museum of Russian life. Inside the temple there are photographs from the past of this city. If you raise your head to the dome of the temple, you can see that the Chinese left it in its original form. The dome is not processed.
I have never seen the entire city of Harbin, well, if only from a bird's eye view. I mean, when the Vladivostok-Harbin plane was landing, and therefore I can orientlocated only in the center of Harbin. The Chinese have lovingly preserved the past of this city. If you take a cable car or boat to Sunny Island, that is, swim or fly over the Sungari River, you can see a large area called the Russian village. In Harbin itself, on Central Street, which Russians unofficially call Arbat, you can try Russian beer, which is still made using Russian technologies, as well as try bread and sausage made according to old Russian recipes. Numerous cafes that preserve the memory of the past may also amaze you, because there used to be residential buildings of Russian people here. Now there are cafes or restaurants where the interior of an old Russian house has been carefully preserved.
Oh, sorry, I got distracted, I jumped so smoothly from the city of Suifenhe to Harbin that I didn’t even notice.
Well, what can I tell you about the morning of the second day in the city of Suifenhe? It was cold and dirty. Since in the evening I was unable to properly wash myself after the trip, due to the fact that the hotel room was deadly cold, I felt very dirty. Well, I already wrote about the cold. Since I slept dressed, all I had to do was throw on a jacket and go say good morning to the Chinese administrator Katya from the Long Shen Hotel. That's what I did! My story about how I was freezing all night did not impress the angry Chinese woman at all. At the moment when I was telling her, about 10 bottles of medicine were laid out in front of her. She tried to take all these medications, but I stopped her. However, I had no time for delicacy. I demanded that my number be changed. When I told Katya about this, it seemed to me that she would eat me alive. However, there was nowhere to retreat. As expected, Katya refused me. Then I said that I would sleep here, right next to her, fortunately, as I saw, next to her booth there was a room where Katya and other staff took a break from such annoying hotel guests as me. The room smelled of pleasant warmth and Chinese smells. It was also warm next to the administrator's booth. This is probably why Katya simply did not understand me. As our Russian proverb says: “A well-fed man does not understand the hungry.” I had to raise my voice to be heard. Katya hit the bottle of medicine on the surface of the booth, but had no intention of retreating. Several guests came out to hear the noise, and I explained the situation. Seeing that I was not going to retreat, Katya became even more angry. A grimace of hatred twisted her face. More than three weeks have passed since my trip to China, to the city of Suifenhe, but I still cannot understand why this evil Chinese woman, whom I met for the first time in this Long Shen hotel, hated me so much? Time passed, I stood near the booth, behind which the Chinese administrator Katya was trying to take all the medicine. Finally, Katya chirped something. I could not understand the powerful Russian language that flowed from the lips of this woman. To still understand what she was saying, I had to ask again three or four times. On the fourth or fifth time, I finally understood that they would not change my room, since there were no rooms available, but they would give me a second blanket and try to add heat to the radiator. This is all!
I won’t say that I was proud of the victory, but I realized that there was nothing more for me here, and I had to finally go have breakfast, because my stomach had been hinting for a long time that I needed to give up these battles of local significance and urgently go to where I'll be fed.
You could go to a cafe where there was a buffet and for 20 yuan you could eat whatever your heart desired and drink, by the way, too. There were many such cafes, they were arranged as a buffet specifically for Russian tourists, and were in every alley. However, after the verbal battles, I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone else today, so I just went to the Chinese dumpling shop. For the modest sum of 10 yuan, I received a huge portion of dumplings, which was to become not only breakfast for me today, but also lunch. When I left the dumpling shop, I remembered that I needed to buy a jacket for my son - this was the main and only big purchase that I wanted to make in Suifenhe. I don’t like going to small shops and stores in this city, sometimes it’s simply life-threatening. Here they are trying to sell you goods that you don’t need, and if you refuse, they can beat you, so I went to the Red Fox fixed goods store. I bought a jacket in this store and hurried out. I had a lot of things I wanted to do on this short November day.
The morning smoothly turned into midday.

Noon and evening of the second day

I want to ask you a question.
Have you ever been to a Buddhist temple?
Have you heard the sound of bells that ring in the wind? Have you tried to throw a penny into the very center of the iron pagoda to make your wish come true? Have you enjoyed the smell that flows in the wind from lit incense sticks? Yes? No?
As for me, I have been to such temples many times, but nothingI can't get enough of this atmosphere. I can hear your question about my religion. No, I do not profess Buddhism, I am a Christian. But for me Buddhism is not a religion. I come to Buddhist temples to fill my eyes with beauty. The architecture of these temples, the colors, sounds, sensations, smells - this is exactly why I come there. Actually, to be honest, Buddhism was brought to China from India. The original religions of the Chinese are Taoism and Confucianism. One day, a Chinese monk traveled along the Silk Road to India. This monk lived in India for either eight or eighteen years. After that, he returned back to his homeland. Everything that he absorbed and learned over the years of wandering, he brought with him to China. The Chinese still worship this monk, or rather his memory and his relics, as the founder of Chinese Buddhism. Like any alien religion, Buddhism took root in China with difficulty. However, time passed, and over time Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism became intertwined. In any Chinese Buddhist temple you can find echoes of all these three components.
We return to the afternoon of the second day in the city of Suifenhe. Yes, you guessed correctly, my introduction means that I am going with you now, following the wave of my memory, to a Buddhist temple. The Buddhist temple of Suifenhe is located near the city center. Some 20-30 minutes and you are already standing in front of a beautiful gate, behind which there is a Buddhist temple.
I have never been to a Buddhist temple in Suifenhe in the snow. And I was wondering what he would look like in snow clothes. As I expected, it was beautiful! The last time I was in the city of Suifenhe was in April of this year, however, we then got to this city through another border crossing - through Poltavka. So, in April I also visited this temple, but I couldn’t go around the whole thing. I was very tired then, I was hungry, and, most importantly, my phone went off. And I don’t like to walk when I don’t have the opportunity to take photographs. In April, I promised myself that I would return to the Buddhist temple and get to where I didn’t get in the spring. And now I was here! The main roads to the pavilions and statues were cleared of snow, but the side roads were untouched by a shovel, and I walked in waist-deep snow. It was fun! When I reached the central statue of Goddess Guanyin, the sun came out. I still can’t believe it, but it was exactly like that. I even have a photograph of me standing near the statue of the goddess and looking at the sky in surprise. However, the sun that illuminated the goddess and the pavilion that was next to her did not shine for long. Just a minute or two. Then the sky again became clouded with snow clouds, it got dark, and there was light snowfall and even a blizzard. By this point, I had been wandering around the temple for about four hours, and I realized that it was time for me to return. I felt warm, calm, my eyes rested, admiring the surroundings, but I knew it was time to return. It will soon start to get dark, I will have to walk through the park near the lake, and at dusk I don’t want to move around this city - it’s just dangerous. About 5-7 years ago, even before the pandemic, a Russian tourist was killed in the city of Suifenhe. The girl was returning from the bathhouse, of which there are many in this city, and she was attacked by the Chinese. I don’t remember all the details, and I don’t want to remember, but I know that God protects those who are careful, and so it was time for me to return to the cold hotel room. By the way, the Chinese or Chinese who killed the Russian girl were executed long ago, and China is strict about this. I don’t know what the Chinese bandits were hoping for in a city where everything is visible far and wide with the help of cameras.
Having gained some impressions, I headed back to the city center. Of course, I didn’t want to go to a hotel room where no one was waiting for me, so I decided to do a little shopping. However, the places I visited had fixed prices, and I was still afraid to go into small, private shops. So, I went shopping where prices are fixed. I mean the Chinese supermarket and shops where all goods are sold for 2 yuan. The Chinese supermarket is cleverly built. To buy what you came for, the lift belt will take you to the very top. You will have to visit all four floors of the supermarket, starting with the fourth, where many wonderful goods are sold. I understand the logic of this supermarket and all supermarkets built this way. You go, go, go for a certain product, and your eyes cling to goods that you initially did not need, but suddenly you remember that something is actually vital for you and... You buy! Unfortunately, I could only carry a bag of my own weight across the border of 3 kg. and so the temptations of this supermarket passed me by. I bought what I came for and left the supermarket. Oh my goodness, how quickly it got dark! However, the city center was brightly lit! The city center of Suifenhe was seething and gushing. Russian speech was mixed with Chinese advertising. Blue from frost,but absolutely happy Chinese men and women touched you by the sleeve and whispered to them to sell you anything! Do you want a Chinese phrasebook? Yes, for God's sake, 20 yuan and it's yours! Do you want a massager? Do you want curtains? How about fixing your teeth?
On the street they sold everything - frozen strawberries, combat boots, bright, artificial flowers, Chinese buns with fillings that looked like large dumplings, boiled eggs with green shells, electric blankets, candied fruit on a stick and hundreds of other things, fruits and small things. I went out onto the shopping street, which Russian tourists call Arbat, just like in Harbin.
Looking at my watch, I was convinced that it was still very early, and I went to visit the shops with the sign “Everything for two yuan.” If you don’t know, in these stores you can buy everything from food to household goods. There are stores where everything really costs two yuan, but most often behind such a sign are hidden stores where goods vary from two yuan to twenty.
Returning to the hotel room, I saw a pile of snow on the windowsill and a second blanket on the bed. The snow was white, and the blanket was gray and washed out.
Like last evening, at first it seemed to me that the room was not so cold, but all these sensations lasted no more than half an hour. Half an hour later I was shivering again from the cold. There was nothing to do. I couldn't even hang on my phone. My hands were freezing, I could only hold them under the blanket, and under the blanket, or rather, under two blankets that press with their weight, it’s not very convenient to communicate on the phone physically. Gradually I began to feel sleepy, but I couldn’t sleep. At 10:00 pm I had to go to where the leader of our group lived. This was necessary so that I could see with my own eyes the things that I would be carrying across the border tomorrow. Do you remember where I started my story? I started it by listing the things that I had to carry across the border. I don’t even know if it’s worth listing again what was supposed to fit in two huge bags? Probably not worth it, I’ll just say it in general terms. The bags contained: shoes, jackets, bags, jeans, pants, various T-shirts and sweaters, as well as towels and tablecloths. I was asked to remember all these things by heart, this was necessary in case the customs officer suddenly doubted that these things belonged to me. Only in this case will I have to tell the customs officer a fairy tale that I have a big family and I am bringing all these things specifically for my family. After touching, smelling and absorbing the color, volume and colors of the things lying in the huge bags, I went back to my hotel room. I’m ashamed to admit, but this time I was rushing for time so that this miserable and meaningless trip would end quickly and I would be home. This is how the second day of our stay in the city of Suifenhe came to an end.

Morning and noon of the third day

I greeted the morning of the third day in a bad mood. It was freezing outside, and the poorly cleared streets turned into an ice skating rink. The city of Suifenhe can boast of straight streets only in rare places. Basically, the city is designed in such a way that the streets descend from top to bottom. In general, the relief here is approximately the same as in the city of Vladivostok. Yes, slipping and falling can be just as easy. It was no longer possible to shop; the weight in my bag had long since exceeded three kilograms. It was also impossible to walk. My shoes were not suitable for walking on bare ice. Besides, as luck would have it, I woke up very early. At home in Vladivostok it was six in the morning, here in the city of Suifenhe it was only four in the morning. I turned on the TV. Residents of the Comedy Club joked their jokes on TV in endless repetition. After somehow suffering for a few more hours, I crawled out from under the blanket. Looking out the window, I saw only the inside of several residential buildings. There was a snowstorm. Well, the third day has begun. After wandering around the room, I decided to take my bag and go weigh it. Next to the booth where Katya sat there were scales. I put my small purse on the scales and couldn’t believe my eyes, the scales showed six kilograms. Deciding that there was something wrong with the scales, as well as with this whole so-called hotel, I took something out of my bag and put it on the scales again, but the scale arrow did not move. The scales still showed six kilograms. I pulled out something else from my bag. The needle has moved, but, unfortunately, only by a few divisions. Now the scales showed five kilograms and five hundred grams. The problem had to be solved radically. But how? You won't throw away what you bought, will you? All that remained was to follow the path taken by all helpers who return to their homeland from the city of Suifenhe. That is, pull on things that weigh down the bag. I returned to the room. I had to take out several items of clothing from my bag, which I would have to put on myself when crossing the border. However, all this was coming to me only in four or five hours. The border crossing was expected at 14:30 - this was Chinese time. If we add another two hours, that is, go to the time in which Vladivostok lives, thenIt turns out that the border crossing was expected at 16:30.
In general, this should have happened almost in the evening. But what could I do now? Having scolded myself for being pessimistic, I told myself to get dressed. I was so eager to get to this city, and now I lay there and whined. This will not work! As soon as I made the decision to fight the circumstances, my phone rang. It turned out that my pen pal lives in the city of Suifenhe. I corresponded with him for a long time, but I didn’t know that he lived here. The site on which I corresponded indicated that my friend lived in Hailongjiang Province. Hailongjiang Province is a huge territory and includes a sufficient number of Chinese cities. That’s why I didn’t even know that my pen pal lived in the city of Suifenhe. I don’t really like to complain, and I told my pen pal about what was happening to me at the moment only half an hour ago. Imagine my surprise when he told me that he lives in the city of Suifenhe. After this, events began to spiral. After meeting in real life, I received a gift: a painting, a neck massage, and I was even treated to dumplings. When I tried to pay for the dumplings myself in a cafe, my new friend was offended. Well, I didn’t object, if he really wanted to pay himself, then so be it. I just had twenty yuan left, which is what I wanted to pay for my breakfast, but, as you already understand, these yuan were left dangling in my wallet. Now they are lying somewhere in a drawer of the nightstand. But that's not what I'm talking about. I had fun during the remaining time before leaving. There were many paintings in the studio of my artist friend. I had time for a carriage and a small cart, and therefore I was able to leisurely look at the paintings and even choose the painting that the artist wanted to give me. My friend used to be a government employee. After he retired, which, as I understand it, happened not so long ago, he was able to engage in creativity. I knew that my friend not only draws pictures, but also writes poetry and composes music for poetry. But that’s not what surprised me, I was surprised that for every hobby my friend had his own studio. My friend painted in one place, and composed music and poetry in another. It’s not that my time was limited, but still, I had to leave soon and therefore, unfortunately, I was not able to visit the second studio where my friend was composing songs. Therefore, I can only tell you about the studio where he painted. The studio consisted of four rooms. However, he only worked in one room, and the other three rooms were abandoned. It was warm in the apartment while I walked through the rooms on a tour, I warmed up when they started choosing a painting, I even took off my jacket.
I complained to a friend that I had a headache, to which he offered to give me a neck massage. After the massage, the headache went away, and the friend clicked his tongue in displeasure. He informed me that there was something very sad going on with my neck and shoulders. I knew about this problem and was not surprised. The most important thing is that my headache went away and for the first time in three days I felt warm. The first half of the day was so fun and productive. It was necessary to return to the hotel. The artist's studio was a two-minute walk from the hotel and soon I entered the cold room again. In my hands was a painting that I could not refuse, but which now needed to be somehow placed in my small luggage.

Well, I extended my hand!
Put what you promised there.
Shoot! Cancel your flour order!
To the fact that he shouted after him.
The debt has been repaid. I'm ready for happiness.
Since childhood, you have predicted happiness for me.
Matching mirror, hang up in bad weather!
Just a ray of sunshine in my window.
Now I'm waiting for love carelessly,
I don't push, I don't rush.
After all, I won’t have to wait forever!
With a watch I definitely tell the time!

The final.
The third day. Customs formalities and return home

It so happened that at one time, in the city of Suifenhe, I lived more days than in other Chinese cities. (“Singer for China”)
Of course, this was a long time ago, 12 years have passed since that moment, but, as I already said, the general topography of the city has not changed much. However, some changes did occur. If a person who comes to Suifenhe for shopping has free time, he can easily immerse himself in the history of this city. If you move a little away from the city center, where all the trade is concentrated, you will notice that the entire city is covered with green signs. The signs, in two languages - Chinese and Russian, tell about the attractions that await you, you just need to move a few meters away from the city center. As far as I know, there are two free museums near the center. One of the museums is dedicated to the national heroine of China - Gala Dubeeva. Galina Dubeeva was born from a mixed marriage of a Chinese man and a Russian woman, the girl spoke three languages - Chinese, Russian and Japanese. She learned Japanese at school. From 1937 to 1945, China suffered from the Japanese military, the Japanese invaders. The conquest operation was interrupted when, with the liberationOn a personal mission, Soviet soldiers came to Chinese soil. Since Galya knew the Japanese language well, she was persuaded to go to the place where the remnants of the Japanese army were hiding. The girl was sent as a parliamentarian. At first everything went well, and then something happened. It is not known for certain what actually happened, but there was shooting and several explosions. The girl did not return home. Then, when this place was empty, the girl’s father crawled and explored every inch of that piece of land where the Japanese were hiding from retaliation, but he never found any traces of his daughter.
Not far from the museum there is a memorial dedicated to the feat of Galina Dubeeva. At the foot of the memorial there is a plaque on which the words of the President of Russia, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, are written in two languages. As I understand it, this plaque was placed there when this memorial was laid. There is even a street in Suifenhe named after Galina Dubeeva. The green sign says "Galia Lu" and an arrow.
If you walk from the museum through the park and lake, you can walk to a Buddhist temple. However, a separate chapter was devoted to the temple and I will not dwell on the ensemble of these beautiful buildings. But if you are interested, then you can learn something interesting about the Buddhist temple from the same green tablet. We return to the city center. Now we will slowly go to another museum, but before we reach it, I will introduce you to several attractions that were here when the city of Suifenhe was still called the Pogranichny village or the village of flags. This was a long time ago, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. We go up from the Xushen Hotel and run into the building of an art gallery that is not working now. Previously, there was a house in which a Russian merchant lived, then the building was named “Europe” - there was a hotel “Europe”, next to the Zhentoulou building. Are you following me? Our path goes to where the old railway station is located. In one of the chapters, I already said that the rapid development of the city of Harbin and the city of Suifenhe became possible when it was decided to build a railway. Well, we will still get to the station, and now, on the way, I will tell you the sights that are marked with green signs - this is the Church of St. Nicholas, built in 1898, the building of the old brewery, the building of the old bakery Lussier, the building of the gymnasium where Russians studied and Chinese children, called on the sign the school of Russian emigrants, a memorial dedicated to the feat of the Soviet soldier-liberator, as well as several buildings in excellent condition in the old Russian style similar to a tower. Previously, there was a “Department of the Police Department of the Special Purpose Railway, Railway Track Distance”, now there is a sign on the gate with the name in Russian “Troika”. Come with me. Let's go even lower. Stop, here it is - the old railway station. There are three green signs here. Have you read it? Go ahead. We pass by a giant tree tied with a red ribbon. This tree is more than 100 years old and the red ribbon reminds that the tree is under state protection. And we continue to walk with you. If we look to the left, we will see a railway bridge. You can climb up the bridge and look down at the trains that run throughout China. Have you looked? So, let's go down again.
Oh, we've already arrived!
Pay attention to the locomotive, which is permanently laid up. You can climb onto the locomotive, you can even take a photo near it. After hanging around the locomotive, we finally come to the railway museum. The museum building also looks like a Russian tower, you won’t miss it! At the end of the 19th century, this was the home of an important person who worked on the railway, and now it is a museum. This museum, like the Galya Dubeeva Museum, can be visited completely free of charge. But, take some form of identification with you, otherwise you will not be allowed into the museum. Oh, and also, please note that the museum has a two-hour lunch break. If you happen to be on your lunch break, then, of course, no one will let you inside. As for me, I got there just in time for the lunch break and had to wait. The exhibits in the museum are signed in two languages; if something is not signed in Russian, you can use Google translator. There is so much to see in the museum! Documents, authentic things from the past, unexpected exhibitions - this is a long story and here, in this chapter, I will not risk doing it. The museum has two floors, or rather, it has more floors, but visitors are only allowed on two floors. From the ground floor there is access to the museum's courtyard. There is a garden and a separate entrance to the wine cellar and storage room. Of course, you and I understand that there is no wine cellar there now, but it’s interesting to look at the courtyard. We leave the museum. We went down steeply to where the city of Suifenhe grew and rose up. And now we go up again, to the city center. The green sign tells about another school. The sign says that in the building we see on the rightToron, there used to be a Russian secondary school at the railway. The school was built in 1919.
What I talked about is only a tenth of the attractions of the city of Suifenhe. If you have the opportunity and time, I hope that my short guide will help you get to know the history of Suifenhe City. And I regretfully return to reality, to the moment when the tourists from my group gathered in the hotel lobby, where I lived for three days in a frozen, dirty and shabby room. Having gone down to where the Chinese woman Katya was sitting in the administrator’s booth, I put down the key to the room and began to wait for them to give me my passport in return. However, Katya pretended not to see me. After waiting for several minutes, I delicately, by knocking the key on the surface of the booth, reminded of myself, but Katya did not even turn to me. At that moment I realized that she was ignoring me for a reason, so I had to raise my voice a little. It worked, Katya finally raised her head, and speech poured out of her mouth. Unfortunately, over the past two days, her speech did not improve, and again I did not understand anything. I had to strain myself, prick up my ears, and only after a few minutes I realized that they were ignoring me for a reason. Administrator Katya was so tired from warmth and laziness that she did not want to make any unnecessary gestures. Katya waited until all the tourists were huddled in the small hall like sheep, and only then, in bulk, did she issue all the passports. Having received my passport, I, quite correctly, told Katya everything I thought about her! To my surprise, the response wish for a happy journey was said in pure Russian. So, what was that? Oh, mysterious eastern soul, I will never understand you!
Well, what can I say about the way home? I was hot! To lighten my bag, I had to put on everything I could wear. The border crossing was normal, nothing drastic happened. In the very first chapter, I already talked about crossing the border. The only thing that surprised me was the late passage of the border. As I understand it, ordinary tourists returned home before noon. After noon it was time for groups where helpers were present. Or rather, it’s not even that, help is an old name. Nowadays, assistance tours are called economy tours. Behind us and in front of us there were a huge number of buses with help. Noise, screaming, bustle, red faces of women and men carrying incredibly heavy bags across the border. I saw all this and recorded it in my head casually, because, as you know, I also carried heavy bags across the border. Customs officers who work every day in this noise and din can be given orders during their lifetime. However, the work of the customs service is an internal state matter, and therefore I will not dwell on this, because even taking photographs is prohibited when crossing the border! It was 10:00 pm when the tourists in my group, including myself, crossed the border and, with relief, loaded our heavy bags into the trunk of the bus for the last time. Now the easiest part of the journey remained - sitting out the four hours of the journey home on the bus.
I was home only at one in the morning.
What can I say? I like Suifenhe City, but I will never go there again to help!
My dear readers, thank you for being with me all these three days in China, sympathizing and worrying about me.

  See you again on the pages of my books!

And I remind you that all similarities in names, situations and other things are just coincidences!