Saving Face in Daching-

Daching a smallish provincial city just North of Harbin with a population of just over a 1,000,000 did not exist 60 years ago. It was only due to the discovery of oil in the early 5o's did it come into being. I image this is what Fort MacMurray will look like in 60 years. It is a typical Chinese city with no rhyme or reason to how the streets are laid out. The streets just sort of wander around looking for a place to come to an end. One distinctive architectural touch is the donkeys that you see in all parts of the city pumping oil into a huge gathering system. Nonie and I actually considered Daching as an option for or first year teaching in China.

Arriving at the train station were met by family of the boss of one our our newest younguns, Viki. Viki and her boss had arranged the entire trip. Two cars were provided for our use (Mercedes and an Audi) and after a quick lunch we hit the road for a visit to the largest wet lands in China which are located a few hours out of Daching near the small city of Quiquihar. Along the way we passed through several picturesque villages. It was not uncommon to see mud walled houses with thatched roofs and a shiny new car parked out front, the modern China. The wetlands are a temporary home for the famous Chinese cranes. Sadly, we were about two weeks late with most of the cranes having moved on and only a few domesticated cranes left for us to see. Back in the cars and off to a local hot springs for some relaxing spa time. The hot springs were interesting and sadly not very hot. Tepid springs might be more descriptive. Although one pool was maintained at a hot spring like temperature. Excited by our find of a hot pool, I dipped my feet in to immediately receive first degree burns to the souls of my feet. There was probably a warning sign but not in English. With our spa time over, it was a quick ride back to Daching for a late dinner and into our hotel.
A late start the next day. Nonie, Viki, branson and I wandered around in search of a coffee. Thanks to branson's good eyes we discovered a coffee/ice cream place with an open door. They were closed but some fast talking by branson how his old father was is in desperate need of a coffee fix, they relented and boiled up a cup of instant for me. Armed with some caffeine we enjoyed a breakfast of fried dumplings then headed to the local petroleum museum. A stunning building about the size of the SOEC, only more ornate and dedicated to the men and women who came in the fifties drilled for oil. Specifically one man called the "Iron Man", who it seems single handedly was responsible for sinking the fastest wells of all the drilling groups. It appeared that a photographer and camera man seem to follow him around where ever he went because they had thousands of photographs and quite a bit of film of his exploits and heroic acts. Lunch was the most interesting of places. Called the Little Piggy, it was dedicated to the glorification of pork. No part of the pork was left uneaten. We sampled tail and face. Numnum. I walked by the show case to see heart, liver, and and especially tasty looking brain on display.

A bit of time to explore Daching before it was time to head back to the train station, a quick shoe shine and on to Harbin on an even more crowded train then our previous one.