HEIHE, a sprawling city in northeastern China, is in a hurry.
The three-decade old metropolis is riding the wave of a decades-long economic boom that has transformed much of the nation. Once part of a backwater region, it now showcases the advances synonymous with the global Chinese juggernaut.
The changes in this city in Heilongjiang province are remarkable. Go back a mere 10 years and you would find it barely recognisable. Go back 80 years and you would find the darkest moments in its long history. It is worth revisiting those years to fully appreciate how far Heihe has come.
RAVAGED BY WAR
A media tour of the Museum for Sino-Soviet War of Resistance Against Japan in Heihe University "brought to life" the atrocities recorded in history books and shown on television.
Tattered shoes lay in the glass cabinet, among other war mementos, whispering tales of the unspeakable horrors of the 2nd Sino-Japanese war (1937 to 1945).
In glass enclosures, rusty household implements, tools, knives, medals, faded photos, water canteens, soldier hats, weapons and letters yellowed with age were a stark reminder of the fierce battles between the Chinese resistance armies in Heilongjiang and the occupiers.
In fact, the battles raged across Asia. Japanese imperialism had condemned tens of millions of people to deep deprivation, hunger and death.
In Malaya, the Japanese occupation (1941-1945), too, brought untold misery. My father still has nightmares of witnessing villagers being massacred in Negri Sembilan. He was 6 then. He saw villagers being lined up in a row and shot to death. My grandfather, father and uncle somehow escaped. They and several other villagers fled to the jungle and survived for a long time only on cassava. A colleague, Subhadra Devan, said her uncle, who was in his 20s, was beheaded by Japanese soldiers for breaking a curfew in Johor.
History books allow the present generation in China to have an inkling of the war but if you ask around, most young people can hardly recount any stories of the Japanese invasion. One of them, Abraham Li, could only say his grandfather was lucky to have escaped conscription in Sichuan province at that time.
“The Chinese army forcefully took my granduncles as they were short of soldiers. But my grandfather escaped.”
LIFE 80 YEARS AFTER
Heihe has put the tumultuous past far behind it; it is today a prosperous city of 1.74 million people. The roads are wide and pedestrian sidewalks well-maintained. Fleets of bike-share and docking stations are a common sight on the streets. Sprawling public parks come with well-manicured lawns.
The picturesque Heilongjiang Park beside the Heilongjiang River (also known as Amur River) is a favourite haunt of locals who come here to fish, swim, cycle, walk their dogs and have picnics under shady trees.
Just across the river stands the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk. Cross-border commercial, cultural and tourism activities have enabled both cities to thrive in the past 20 years. It is not unusual to see signboards in Chinese and Russian, as well as Byzantine-inspired architecture in Heihe. If you don’t speak Mandarin or Russian, be prepared for a hard time navigating around.
Without visas, we had to make do with a night cruise on the river in order to get as close as possible to Blagoveshchensk. A Chinese official on the boat proudly told visitors that Heihe was far more developed than its Russian neighbour. To prove his point, he turned towards the high-rise buildings bathed in colourful laser lights on the Chinese side and then to the rather subdued and dark Russian promenade.
Traders and visitors from both countries cross the river by ferry in the daytime and there is even an economic cooperation zone, including an e-commerce industrial park, designated for Chinese-Russian trade in Heihe. During winter, the river is frozen and people just drive their vehicles across it.
Various Russian goods are sold in the city, fuelled by growing Chinese demand especially for confectionery and beverages.
Soon, a 1.3km bridge linking both cities will open to facilitate greater traffic and trade. Besides that, construction of a cross-border cable car linking Heihe and Blagoveshchensk is underway and is expected to be completed in 2021.
Heihe is still transforming in so many ways. I reckon if I were to return in five years, I would probably not recognise it.
Enjoy the best flight experiences and get discounts when you book with MAS Promotion.