Explore Harbin City and its main highlights in just 2 hours

Binzhou (Harbin–Manzhouli) Railway Bridge is affectionately known as the “old river bridge”. The railway bridge was originally built by Russians as the western branch of the Chinese Eastern Railway on May 16, 1900. The double-track arterial railroad bridge between Harbin and Manzhouli on the Russian border was fully completed on August 22, 1901 and delivered on October 2 in the same year. It is the oldest railway bridge on the Songhua River, Harbin and the first cross-river bridge in the city. The 934.8 km Binzhou Railway Bridge used to be a major rail transport corridor across northeast China, traversing Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang. Binzhou Railway Bridge was included in the third national cultural relic survey in 2008; therefore, it is protected as unmovable cultural relics and open to tourists.

Harbin is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population and largest city by metropolitan population (urban and rural together) in Northeast China. Harbin serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural and communications hub in Northeast China, as well as an important industrial base of the nation. Harbin is also one of the top 200 science cities and metropolitan areas in the world by scientific research as tracked by the Nature Index. With its often harsh winters, Harbin is heralded as the Ice Cityfor its well-known winter tourism and recreations.Harbin is notable for its ice sculpture festival in the winter. Besides being well known for its historical Russian legacy, the city serves as an important gateway in Sino-Russian trade today. In the 1920s, the city was considered China's fashion capital since new designs from Paris and Moscow reached here first before arriving in Shanghai.The city was voted "China Top Tourist City" by the China National Tourism Administration in 2004.

The Harbin Flood Control Memorial Tower is located in the Stalin Park and is on the opposite side of the Zhongyang Pedestrian Center Street. It is a landmark in Harbin. It commemorates the victory of the fight against the 1957 flood and is finished construction on Oct. 1st, 1958. It was co-designed by Bagis Zelev, a designer from former Soviet Union and Li Guangyao who is the second generation of architect from Harbin Institute of Technology.

Located in the central district of Daoli, Harbin city, Heilongjiang province, the Saint Sophia Cathedral was first built in 1907 and rebuilt into brick and wood structure in 1912. It is the largest Orthodox Church in the Far East. In November, 1996, it was listed as one of the Key Cultural Relics under State Protection. Six months later, it was repaired and renamed as Harbin Art Gallery by the Harbin City government. It is a respectable landmark for Harbiners and for tourism. The history of St. Sophia Church was complex. Shortly after the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), in March, 1907, the Russian built the church of timber. Then, the Russian rebuilt it using masonry and timber four years later. The onset of a second reconstruction by Russian was marked on September 23rd, 1923, and a ceremony was held to celebrate laying the corner stone. It was completed on November 25th, 1932, after nine years, and was hailed as a monumental work of art.

Stalin Park is one of the most famous scenic spots in Harbin City. Built in 1953, it now stands as an evidence of the friendship between China and Soviet Union at that time. Covering an area of 105,000 square meters, and extending 1,750 meters along the southern bank of Songhua River, the park has Railway Bridge to the east and Jiuzhan Park to the west, and faces the famous Sun Island on the other side of the river. It is characterized by Russian style flower beds and sixteen groups of art sculptures and is abundantly vegetated with trees and colorful flowers, making Stalin Park a famous summer resort at home and abroad. The place is very popular with local people on weekends.

The Songhua River (also Haixi or Xingal) is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur. It flows about 1,434 kilometres (891 mi) from the Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea border through China's northeastern Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces. The extreme flatness of the Northeast China Plain has caused the river to meander over time, filling the wide plain with oxbow lakes, as remnants of the previous paths of the river.