Northeast China is a landscape of rivers, mountains and plains. It is also home to a potpourri of cultures – Manchurians, Koreans, Mongols and Russians – due to its proximity to Mongolia and Russia in the north and Korea in the south.
We will begin our journey at the port city of Dalian, a city of 5.4 million people. Located in Liaoning Province, Dalian is nicknamed “the Hong Kong of the North” for it is one of the most prosperous cities in China. While we wait for the arrival of our 4x4s, we will tour Dalian, marked by fine examples of Russian and Japanese architecture.
As soon as we pick up our vehicles from the port, we will depart for Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province. In the 17th century, Shenyang was a Mongol-trading centre, but today, heavy industry and Qing tombs have taken over the cityscape.
Our next stop is Haerbin where over 3 million people live amongst Russian Orthodox churches, onion domes and fancy pockets of cobbled streets. It gets more crowded during the winter months when the popular Ice Lantern Festival is held here.
We journey northwest, across the formidable Daxing’an Mountains, into the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. We traverse through Hailar and finally reach Manzhouli, the border town where we begin formalities to enter Siberia. By the time we reach Chita, the first border town in Siberia, our 4x4s would have had travelled 2,510km.
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