In the forested hills of northeast China, Hengdaohezi Town in Heilongjiang preserves one of the country's most distinctive architectural legacies. The town is home to more than 250 Russian-style buildings, six of which are nationally protected heritage sites. Most were built between 1903 and 1904 during the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway.
Hengdaohezi Town (Photo: Xinhua)
Hengdaohezi Town (Photo: Xinhua)
Featuring black metal roofs, stone "tiger-skin" walls, brick detailing around windows and corners, and small gabled façades above doorways, the architecture stands apart from traditional Chinese styles. The Russian-Style Street, stretching over one kilometer through the town center, is the most concentrated showcase of this heritage. Walking among yellow-walled houses lined with stone and tile, visitors are immersed in a rare blend of northeastern folk culture, Russian influences, and railway history.
On Shamian Island along the Pearl River in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, a different European streetscape unfolds. Established as a British and French concession in 1861, Shamian once hosted foreign consulates, banks and trading houses, forming a distinctive "three horizontal, five vertical" street layout.
Shamian Island (Photo: Xinhua)
Shamian Island (Photo: Xinhua)
Today, 169 European-style buildings remain, including Gothic churches, neoclassical banks and romanticist customs houses. Often described as an "open-air museum of European architecture," Shamian was designated a national key cultural heritage site in 1996. Shaded avenues and preserved façades offer visitors a quiet, elegant walk through a pivotal chapter of Guangzhou's modern history.
Author | Liu Lingzhi
Editor | James Campion, Shen He
