Historic block in Harbin attracts numerous tourists with unique architecture, creative forms

A historic and cultural block in Harbin City of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province featuring unique architecture and creative business forms has been given a tourism boost by the ongoing Asian Winter Games as more visitors descended on the "ice city."

Regarded as a must-visit winter hotspot and renowned for its ice and snow attractions, Harbin has been seeing a steady growth in visitor numbers this winter and welcomed over 12 million visitors during the recent Spring Festival holiday. The week-long Asian Winter Games which opened on Friday bringing a record number of participants from 34 countries and regions has seen a further influx of tourists arriving in the city.

Home to the largest and best-preserved collection of Chinese Baroque architecture, the Chinese Baroque Historic and Cultural Block has been revitalized in recent years with creative modern initiatives, adding a new touch of charm to tourists at home and abroad.

This place showcases a special architectural style that combines both Chinese and Western characteristics. On the Baroque-style buildings, there are Chinese traditional patterns, such as pomegranates, wealth-beckoning toads and popular peony flowers.

Apart from enjoying the beauty of old architecture, visitors are also able to enjoy local delicacies there.

In addition, new business forms and scenarios created by Harbin's innovative younger generations have also revitalized the block.

For example, the site of a former grain store has now been turned into a creative design center. With an independent bookstore as its main body, the center contains several cultural spaces, including a cafe, a public reading room and a small exhibition hall.

There are around 500 cultural and creative products as well. In less than two years, the center has attracted 10 creative design enterprises to settle down with nearly 30 independent designers.

Historic block in Harbin attracts numerous tourists with unique architecture, creative forms

Northern China has launched full-scale clearing efforts to ensure smooth and safe traffic after multiple regions experienced the first snowfalls of the winter season.

In Inner Mongolia, snowfall began on Thursday night and continued through Friday morning in the northern and western parts of the autonomous region. Ordos City in the west experienced mild to moderate snow in most areas, with the northern part receiving the most snowfall of over five millimeters.

"The snow removal team has been working around the clock to clear snow and reduce slip hazards on sections prone to icing, including bridges, slopes, and curves. This aims to minimize the impacts of snowfall on road traffic," said Liu Feng, chief of a local highway maintenance station.

Snowfall in Jinan, capital of north China's Shandong Province, has been strengthening since 14:00 on Friday, with the local weather service upgrading the snowstorm warning signal from blue to yellow at 19:20 on the day.

Local authorities prepared over 1,670 snow removal machines for operation and immediately started clearing work as precipitation began.

Meanwhile, in north-central China's Gansu, temperatures in the rural Jishishan County dropped about 10 degrees Celsius as the rest of the province was largely affected by Friday's snowfall.

Gansu is a crucial passageway for traffic between China's eastern and western regions, so local authorities acted quickly to ensure highway safety.

"We applied deicing agents on sharp curves, steep slopes, and bridges, and increased patrols on roads in case any emergency situations may come up," said Che Yifan, deputy chief of a local highway maintenance station.

Snow also covered the Chinese capital Beijing on Friday, prompting emergency responses from local transportation authorities, with over 4,000 personnel and more than 2,600 pieces of machinery being dispatched to carry out the clearing effort.

Prompt clearing efforts begin amid season's first snowfall in northern China