Baroque façades
With Chinese ornament.
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Harbin's old Chinese quarter, where Chinese residents lived in the 1920s apart from the Russian districts; its merchants raised unique buildings known as «Chinese Baroque», with European Baroque façades and thoroughly Chinese ornament, a style found only in Harbin. The façades are carved with Chinese symbols of good fortune such as bats, peonies and old coins, and behind them lie two-storey inner courtyards wrapped in wooden balconies and walkways; restoration since 2007 has revived dozens of buildings across about 2.6 hectares. Its lanes are full of popular eateries, old-style sweet shops and cafés, and about a kilometre to the northeast stands the Daowai Mosque, the largest mosque in Heilongjiang province, built in 1897 in a blend of Islamic, Chinese and Russian styles, with a prayer hall for about 600 worshippers. The quarter is free and always open; metro Line 3 stops at Chinese-baroque Block station, and the mosque has its own station on the same line, per visitor guides. Around the mosque, halal restaurants run by Hui Muslims make it the easiest place in Harbin to eat halal.
With Chinese ornament.
With wooden balconies.
Since 1897.
Daowai District, east of central Harbin
Zhaolin ParkHarbin's oldest park, laid out by the Chinese Eastern Railway administration in 18 minutes walk4.1
Saint Sophia Cathedral, HarbinHarbin's best-known landmark, a former Russian Orthodox church crowned by a huge21 minutes walk4.6
Flood Control Monument and Stalin ParkA landmark on the bank of the Songhua River right at the end of Central Street, 23 minutes walk4.5
Central Street (Zhongyang Street)Harbin's best-known street, a cobbled pedestrian street 1,450 metres long runnin24 minutes walk4.4The easiest area is around the Daowai Mosque near the Chinese Baroque quarter, with halal restaurants run by Hui Muslims; the mosque has its own metro station on Line 3, per visitor guides.