Creativity and innovation helps Harbin present a new cityscape

HARBIN, China, Dec. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This year, Harbin has announced its goal of "building a city of creative design". Efforts have been made in exploring ways to combine intangible cultural heritage and creative design in a bid to turn Harbin into a glamorous city featured with a high-quality urban environment, so as to meet people's aspirations to live a better life and demonstrate a new cityscape.

Harbin cooperates with international renowned design teams in its urban planning, and a number of new city landmarks have been created as a result. The design of Qunli New Area has won many Chinese awards of planning and design. The design of Harbin Grand Theater by Ma Yansong received the "Cultural Architecture" prize in the 2015 ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards. The planning and design of the Chinese Eastern Railway Park won the first prize of National Excellent Urban Planning and Design Award.

As winter arrives, it's pleasant walking in the snow on the stone pavements from the Central Street to the Chinese Baroque Street in Daowai District of Harbin. First built in 1900, the Central Street is dubbed as "Gallery of International Architecture". On one side, there are rows of buildings of Baroque, Byzantine, Neoclassic, Eclectic, New-art (Art nouveau) and Russian traditional styles; on the other side, there are world-class future buildings. The Saint Sophia Cathedral is right in the front, and the even farther landmark towering there is the Harbin Grand Theater.

The western-style architecture in Harbin brings the city the name of "Oriental Paris" and "Oriental Moscow." In 1902, Levteyev, the chief engineer of the Chinese Eastern Railway, made a general plan for Harbin in accordance with the most advanced planning concept of "garden city" in Europe based on the urban planning of Moscow and Paris. A number of excellent architects designed and built high-quality buildings with different styles in Harbin, laying a solid foundation for the city's profound urban culture.

Early in 1984, Harbin had announced 75 historical buildings, as well as 3 protected streets, the Central Street, Jingyu Street and Hongjun Street. In 1997, Harbin government appointed the Central Street as a pedestrian street. In recent years, Harbin has repaired a large number of old buildings including churches, consulates, as well as cultural, commercial and residential architecture. The Saint Sophia Cathedral, renewed with original materials and techniques, is now a shining landmark of Harbin.

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