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
China's two major power grid operators -- the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) -- reported a surge in investment in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction and support high-quality socioeconomic development in China.
The State Grid said it completed fixed-asset investment worth 129 billion yuan (about 18.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 37 percent the corresponding period of the previous year. The spending has driven more than 250 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across the wider industrial chain.
Key projects such as the Panxi ultra-high-voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) line and the Anhui-Hubei back-to-back direct current (DC) project have seen ground broken for their construction, while several west-to-east power transmission projects have been upgraded.
Investment in connecting renewable energy generation to the grid was reported to have exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, a year-on-year rise of more than 50 percent.
The CSG also reported robust growth in investment in the three-month period, with fixed-asset investment reaching 38.45 billion yuan (5.58 billion U.S. dollars), up about 50 percent from a year earlier.
Among its achievements, the company completed and commissioned 80 key projects, including the 220 kV cross-sea power grid interconnection project, which was officially put into operation on March 20. The project ended years of grid isolation on the Weizhou Island in south China by linking it to the main power system of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The construction of 17 other major energy projects, including one linking the power grid of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China with that of Guangdong Province in south China, is advancing rapidly. These projects are expected to bolster regional industries, the maritime economy, digital collaboration and the transition to green energy.
"By accelerating major project construction, investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is expected to approach 1 trillion yuan (145 billion U.S. dollars), driving a further 2 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across upstream and downstream industries," said Dong Yanle, deputy general manager of the Engineering Construction Department under the China Southern Power Grid.
China ramps up power grid investment in January-March to boost growth
