Half-day walk in Harbin with Saint Sophia Cathedral

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.

Harbin Zhongyang Pedestrian Street, or known as the Central Avenue, has been the most prosperous commercial hub for over one hundred years in downtown Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China. The street stretches to Harbin Flood Prevention Cenotaph Square to the north and Xinyang Square to the south. The street is 1400 meters long and 21.34 meters wide. The whole street is divided into a couple of different parts and vehicles are not allowed to run along the street. Built in 1898, the Central Avenue is dubbed as "a gallery of European architectural art", for it is featured with a large number of western architectures, including Russian, Baroque, Renaissance and other style buildings. For visitors who have never been to Moscow, Rome or Paris can get a feeling and appreciation for the architecture of those cities by visiting the Central Avenue in Harbin. Harbin is known as “Eastern Moscow” or “Eastern Paris”, and as the miniature of Harbin, the Central Avenue is the landmark of Harbin city that you can not miss.