Walking in Harbin: Discover the Magic of China's 'Little Russia' City

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Hey, guys! Finally, it's your HARBIN!

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0:00 Intro
1:40 Central Street (or Zhongyang Street)
52:13 West Red Square Shopping Mall
1:18:10 Around Harbin Railway Station
1:30:45 Around Harbin Grand Theater
1:53:50 Sun Island
2:46:30 Harbin Pedestrian Railway Bridge
3:10:48 Historic Old Street Night Tour

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This is Harbin, a city in China that was built by the Russians.

Harbin, a city in northeast China, was founded by Russian settlers in the 1900s.

The city is nicknamed "Little Moscow" for its Orthodox-style architecture.

Today, remnants of its Russian history can be seen mostly in the city's trade, food, and tourist attractions.

Although Harbin is an economic and cultural hub in China, its streets are reminscent of European ones: Russian Orthodox churches and neoclassic buildings are landmarks in its city center.

The city was founded by settlers in the late 1900s.

Now, the city of over six million people comprises of mostly Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China. Remnants of Russian influence remain in the city today.

"Russian culture is not just in terms of its physical architecture, it's quite embedded in our lifestyle as well," Shiran Geng, a Harbin-born PhD candidate at Australia's Victoria University told us. Geng co-wrote a research paper on the city's Russian influences and urban planning.

"It's not until I went travelling in Europe and Russia that I realized many of the things that we've been eating are actually Russian influenced," she added.

Harbin is the largest city in northeastern China, covering an area of 53,100 square kilometers (around 20,463 square miles), slightly smaller than the state of West Virginia.

The city is the capital of Heilongjiang province, the northernmost province in China.

The province shares a border with Russia that stretches almost 3,000 kilometers.

It's thanks to Russian construction projects like the railway that Harbin became an important industrial city in China in the 1950s, according to a paper by professors from the Harbin Institute of Technology.

At Sun Island, where the famous Harbin snow festival is held, a "Russian Style Town" was created to offer tourists a localized experience of being in Russia.

However, Hengyi Zhao, a 26-year-old Harbin native, told us the tourist attractions are not indicative of what life looks like in the city at large.

"We don't have many Russian writings [on the buildings] in the city now, only those in the [tourist] attraction zone to make our Russian style stronger for travelers," Zhao said.

Russian Orthodox churches like the Saint Sophia Cathedral are some of Harbin's most prominent landmarks.

The cathedral was built in 1907 and was the center of spiritual life for 100,000 Russian settlers. But after Russian immigrants left, many churches were no longer used as religious sites.

The cathedral was converted into a military installation by the Japanese in World War II, according to SixthTone. Today, the churches have become a tourist attraction.

"Some of them have been renovated or reused as galleries, museums, or tourist attractions," said Geng. "They are no longer in use [as churches]."

Russian food like sourdough bread, called "khleb," smoked sausage, and borscht are commonly eaten in Harbin, per the city's official website.

"We have a specific diet," Geng said. "We do like to eat bread, which is not very common [in] other parts of China."

Local dishes are also influenced by the broader northeastern Chinese cuisine, like "disanxian" — sauteed potatoes with green pepper and eggplant, and stewed chicken with mushrooms.

Today, Harbin is trying to balance its Russian history and its Chinese identity.

While many historical landmarks like churches are preserved, others are being demolished to "make room for expanding roads and cookie-cutter high-rise blocks," reported The New York Times.

But the Russian structures that do remain are bound to remain part of the city's landscape for years to come.

"It's a good balance of the occasional sort of Russian-influenced architecture," Geng said of the blend of modern buildings and Russian-style landmarks.

"They have been carefully preserved," she added. "So I don't see them being demolished anytime soon."

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Other Walk East's Cool Playlists:

Night Walking Tour In China's Metropolitan Cities:

China's Stunning Old Towns:

Shanghai City Classic Scenes:

4K⁶⁰ Driving In China:

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#Harbin
#Heilongjiang
#IceCity
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This brings back my childhood memories. However, the metro subway system is new. The Russian influence came in two distinct waves, one from the old China over 100 years ago, the other came from the 1950s. The old historical city heritage district is from the old. It seems city’s preservation efforts are excellent.

zhli
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Действительно "Маленькая Москва", создаётся ощущение, что гуляешь по Арбату (одна из улиц в центре Москвы)

Приятно видеть такое органичное совмещение двух культур
🇨🇳❤🇷🇺

whiteowl
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Amazingly beautiful, seems like straight from a fantasy movie. The blend of Chinese and Slavic influences is beautiful.

umbriel
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Огромное Спасибо за Тур по городу❤, Мой дедушка когда-то жил в Харбине.Я не однократно была в Китае, но к сожалению пока не добралась до Харбина. Действительно, город очень похож на русские города. Еще раз Большое Спасибо❤Thank You so Much for this Harbin Video, it means a lot for my family heritage.

irinaknight
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Oh my gosh! Harbin is truly magnificent n vibrant! No wonder the Russians loves cross border for shopping n great food. Thanks friend for yr resourceful channel which i always take it as a guideline when i wanna visit a place yr channel recommended!😊👍

jasC
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We don't get to see much about China very often as its social media is different from the rest of the world but through your videos, i learned a lot about its culture, history, lifestyle, people, and its vast urban landscape. Greetings from Pakistan ❤

hhydar
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bello paseo en Harbin ... de noche parece una ciudad de aquellos cuentos de hadas ... pero moderna ... gracias hermano por mostrarnos otra belleza de China continental ... I love China

globx
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Hello Max! How nice it is to see little Russia in such a beautiful and big city with a very interesting history. For me, as a resident of Russia, the Far East of Sakhalin Island, it was very pleasant that you walked through the historical places of little Russia in Harbin, thank you very much for this!! I also plan to visit Harbin in the future and walk through the same places where you walked in this video! I liked everything 👍👍👍👍👍!!I’m waiting for the new video!

库页岛
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What a beautiful, historic city! I have heard my paternal grandparents' family all are from Harbin and northern China but have yet to experience it myself. Hopefully one day I get to! Zhongyang Street I will need to visit ^^

anyuanli
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all these 3 hours + walks are so awesome, I turn them on the background while working to keep me from getting bored !
thank you for sharing !

wanderlust_walker
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Harbin, about 10 million population, I will travel there one day.
Great video, great job!

duantie
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I would love to see the ice sculptures in Harbin one day. This city looks so clean, beautiful, and European.

HKChineseCanadian
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cool, keep moving forward with the development of cities in China


HeviFirza
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Over 100 years ago, Harbin was a super city in the Far East. Harbin suddenly gained global attention again this year. Harbin was once a famous industrial city and cultural and artistic center. It is awarded by the United Nations as one of the "Six Music Capitals of the World" and the only "Music Capital" in Asia, on par with Vienna. For over 100 years, Harbin has been known as "Paris of the East" and "Moscow of the East". It once gathered nobles from 28 European countries and had consulates from 23 other countries. In the early 20th century, Harbin's economy, culture, industry, commerce and other fields were very developed. In the early 20th century, Harbin's advanced level far surpassed that of Shanghai. Since the beginning of this year, Harbin has once again attracted global attention and may rise again in the future! Realize great rejuvenation!

YTmerciful
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Замечательный город. Спасибо за видео! ❤

firstandlastname
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I see good wonderful people here. They are going about their lives, they are living their lives. They are not hurting anyone. Nobody should bother them. Beautiful strong people! Harbin, the world enjoys walking with you.

Soyepita-Pay-lheq
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Es un lugar fantástico. Qué hermosa caminata! Gracias por compartirla!

VWK
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Thank you for your video to present Harbin with right angle. Our family live in walking street area 中央大街 for almost 100 years by a few generations. There were a lots Russian around our neighborhood. We can see the buildings and church from their heritage. Appreciate you roll my memories back to old time. You could dig in more from museums and historical places.

yikunwang
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For Hallyu wave/Kpop fans, Harbin is the hometown of rising idol Ning Yizhou, known by her stage name Ningning, of girl group Aespa.

She first joined singing competitions on Chinese television as a young girl before flying to Korea to pursue her idol dreams.

Everyone in the city should be proud of her.

thisiskevin
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China got Harbin, Russia got Vladivostok, and both cities are beautiful. I will be the ice structure this year. Hello Harbin.

jparsit