In China, when it comes to ancient towns, almost 90% of friends will associate with the ancient towns of Jiangnan in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, jiangnan ancient towns with their rich Chinese cultural elements, with its ink town, smoke and rain corridors, white wall ink roofs, boat shadow waves, deeply branded in people's hearts.
But the ancient town I take you into today is not an ancient town that people imagine in their hearts, but a Russian town with a history of more than 100 years, it is the only ancient town in the northeast region of the 30 historical and cultural towns on the mainland that has received this honor, which is the Hengdao Hezi of Heilongjiang.
On the Us "National Geographic" Chinese-Russian style ancient town, many friends will be a little confused when they see this title? Is there an exaggeration?
Yes, when I heard my buddies introduce me, I thought he was fooling me again. It wasn't until I walked in person that I felt that my friend's evaluation was quite good. It's really a fake Russian town, but he's not in Russia, but in Hengdaohezi, Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, on the mainland.
Some time ago, the popular "On the Cliff" I think everyone is not unfamiliar, right? Perhaps careful viewers will find that Zhang Xianchen, played by Zhang Yi, and Xiaolan, played by Liu Haocun, encountered a secret agent to check the car, and the station where their train stopped was Hengdao Hezi Station.
Perhaps many friends will have such a question, on the land of China, how can there be such an original Russian town? In fact, this all comes from a railway, which is the Middle East Railway.
Regarding the history of this railway, you can look at my articles from the previous days, and I will not repeat them here. The Middle East Railway Crossing Hezi Station was an important Russian gathering point on the mainland at that time, and a military fortress. During the Tsarist Era, not only did many Russians immigrate here, but also brought Russian culture and architecture to Hengdaohezi. Once upon a time, this Middle East railway built by the Russians became an important railway artery in old China.
The haze of war has faded away with the passage of time, and now the Hengdao River is a calm and peaceful scene. There are as many as 256 old Russian buildings that have survived, most of which were built between 1901 and 1905, and now they are 120 years old. Among them, there are 5 national-level protected buildings and 104 municipal-level protected buildings, and due to the proper restoration and protection of the government, many buildings still maintain the same as they were a hundred years ago. Perhaps because of this, the rustic Hengdao Hezi Town has appeared on the cover of the US "National Geographic", and "Aerial Photography of China" has also come here to shoot.
There is a very well-known church in Hengdaohezi, whether from the perspective of its architectural style or from the historical significance, it can be said that it is the most representative of the Russian architecture of Hengdaohezi. It can almost be evaluated as the only wooden Orthodox church on the mainland, second only in size to the original Harbin Nicholas Church.
Built in 1902, the main body of the church is a log woodcut structure, the plan is a Greek cross structure, whether from its shape, structure, craftsmanship or decoration, all show the characteristics of early Russian architecture.
YokodoHezi Town is not big, and it takes half a day to walk around, but if you have time, you may wish to stay in the town for one night, maybe you will have more rewards. More than a hundred years have passed, but the residents of the town still maintain some habits left over from a hundred years ago, such as the townspeople love to drink beer and spirits, like to eat ham, like to eat bread jam in the morning, women wear skirts in winter, and so on.
Of course, the details of life in these small towns cannot be felt in any way. As I often say to my friends, go to a place, only quietly feel, you will find its beauty, its charm.
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