Visiting HeiLongJiang Province in China, "Haerbin or Harbin?" (2015-16)

A city of 10 million, 2.5 of which are in the urban core. At least they know the warmth of people standing together is a thing!

Really spread out city with a fair bit to see mostly in the winter but also in the summer there are noticeably nice beach and hike areas for travellers to visit. 

Which is it? Harbin or haerbin? I am confused because the spelling in the second word was seen around the city but then the common (maybe English) of it is Harbin. I guess the idea could be taken much similarly to the Jinshitan or jinshitun debate among expats who are too bored for their own good.

Open to suggestions and don't say "get a life". I believe there is a large gap in the pinyin, oral aspect of the speech and the Chinese characters. Pinyin is handy and easy to tell the tones but very much unknown to some individuals as they normally use characters.

This is something I noticed travelling through China. Yes, obviously dialects are different among regions as well as ethnic designated regions but I find it very interesting the evolution and scarcity of languages as time goes on.

Is Mandarin a stable language to learn? Are the Cantonese traditional Chinese characters going to be lasting longer and consume simplified honest characters due to their rich history or is it just common knowledge that a language that has been engrained into a civilization (or into the world history for that matter) that it really won't be going anywhere ever. In order to help you understand what I am talking about, ponder this. 

The UNESCO has many world heritage sites around the world and all are preserved for the preservation of our worldly morals and beliefs. How long till languages are specially Stowed away and cared for by scholars? Just a thought, look at what happened to Traditional Chinese Characters, Egyptian hyroglyphics and even ancient Chinese characters? I mean look at what is even happening to "English", as far as English goes, no two English speaking countries speak AND write the same English entirely. 

Will English become a super language (globally spoken)? Will Mandarin make a jump for a leading language in the world of communication?

Thoughts and feelings, 

-CB



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