Since they had agreed to visit the Old Daowai district, everyone stopped hesitating and immediately prepared to set off on their bicycles. Jia Hui, with her strength, took charge of riding the bicycle carrying Xu Mingxuan and Chen Lan, with Xu Mingxuan in the back and Chen Lan perched on the front crossbar. Jia Yao rode his bike, taking his uncle Er Zhuang. Jia He eagerly volunteered to ride with his second brother, and Jia Xing, being the elder brother, didn't argue and let him have his way.
Harbin truly lived up to its reputation as a very fashionable city. As the group cycled along the streets, they were greeted everywhere by various European-style buildings, including churches, mansions, and foreign-style houses, as well as numerous administrative offices. These structures, reminiscent of the ornate European architecture found in Daoli, were built upon the Baroque style, enhanced with many traditional Chinese elements. Symbols of good fortune like bats, pomegranates signifying many descendants, the golden toad representing wealth, and peonies symbolizing nobility and prosperity, all appeared on the facades of these Baroque buildings. This was the Sud an novel network.
It was said that the Daowai district was the largest area of "Chinese Baroque" architecture in the country, a treasure born from the convergence of Chinese and Western cultures.
Seeing the bustling streets filled with people, Chen Lan couldn't help but exclaim, "This place truly deserves the title 'Paris of the East'."
Jia Hui, cycling with the couple, sped along and stopped in front of a three-story Chinese Baroque building at a street corner. Chen Lan looked up and saw the store sign read Hengda Li Watch and Clock Shop.
Chen Lan asked Xu Mingxuan and Er Zhuang to take the four children inside to look around, while she stayed outside to watch the three bicycles.
The Hengda Li Watch and Clock Shop was three stories tall, its exterior design exceptionally grand. The main color of the building was yellow, accented with blue paint in the middle. Due to its age, some of the paint was peeling, revealing a mottled surface. The bas-reliefs on the walls featured clusters of orchids with their branches and leaves unfurling. The window frames on the third floor were carved with ornate, intricate patterns, and the decorative parapets, with their layered acroteria, all testified to its former splendor and extravagance.
Not long after, Xu Mingxuan and Er Zhuang emerged with all four children!
Chen Lan asked in surprise, "What happened? None of you saw a watch you liked?"
Jia Hui pouted, muttering, "What a bother! Mother, they said we didn't have watch coupons and wouldn't even let us look. They just shooed us out. How could they treat customers like that?"
Seeing Jia Hui's indignant expression, Chen Lan didn't know how to comfort her. Could she tell her not to mind, that the attitude of service staff was like this in this era?
Xu Mingxuan, noticing Chen Lan's silence, quickly interjected to smooth things over, "Daughter, didn't you want to see a movie at the Song Guang Cinema? Let's hurry there! If we go late, it will be hard to get tickets. Let's go see what good movies are playing today."
Xu Mingxuan's diversion was successful, and Jia Hui no longer dwelled on the service staff's attitude.
So, the group cycled to the Song Guang Cinema, located in Song Guang Cinema Alley. The Song Guang Cinema was also a European building in the eclectic style.
Upon inquiring at the ticket window, they learned that the movie showing today was "Tunnel Warfare," and tickets were one jiao each.
When Jia Hui and the other three saw that "Tunnel Warfare" was playing, their interest immediately waned. They had probably seen this movie forty to fifty times, if not a hundred, since they were children.
Xu Mingxuan and Er Zhuang, however, were quite interested. After discussion, it was decided that Xu Mingxuan and Er Zhuang would buy tickets and go to the cinema, while Chen Lan and the four children would continue shopping. They agreed to meet at the state-run restaurant on Fendou Road in two hours for lunch. This way, everyone could do as they pleased, and no one would interfere with the other.
Chen Lan then took the four children and set off on the three bicycles. Her first stop with them was the Flood Control Memorial Tower in Harbin.
The group cycled through the bustling Central Street, teeming with people and traffic. This was Harbin's most prosperous commercial street, lined with European-style buildings of various architectural styles. Though diverse, they were arranged harmoniously, showcasing architectural schools like Renaissance, Baroque, Eclectic, and Art Nouveau, imbuing the entire street with an exotic flair.
What was particularly special was the road surface, paved with square granite blocks carved into a bread shape. Because their size and shape were similar to Russian loaves of bread, and their surfaces were as delicate and shiny as bread, people called them "bread stones."
Legend had it that when this street was built, each bread stone was worth one silver dollar, an amount that could cover the living expenses of an ordinary family for a month at that time.
The nearly one-kilometer-long Central Street could truly be said to be paved with gold.
The reciprocal architectural design of the buildings made the entire street appear even more romantic and elegant, exuding an air of nobility and grandeur.
Chen Lan thought, it was no wonder people said, "You can't say you've been to Harbin without visiting Central Street." The street's unique European style filled it with romantic sentiment.
Chen Lan led the four children, cycling through the prosperous Central Street, to the Flood Control Memorial Tower, located on the picturesque bank of the Songhua River at the end of Central Street's main square.
The Flood Control Memorial Tower was composed of a three-dimensional tower body and an attached colonnade. The memorial tower also adopted a European architectural style. Its base was built with stone blocks, signifying the sturdy and impregnable embankment.
The fountain in front of the base symbolized the brave and wise people of Harbin undertaking water conservancy projects to eliminate floods. The bas-reliefs on the tower depicted the heroic figures of flood control heroes battling the floods.
Crowning the soaring spire was a circular sculpture composed of the great figures of workers, peasants, soldiers, and intellectuals who resisted the flood.
The semicircular European-style ancient Roman colonnade surrounding the memorial tower featured twenty columns connected by bands at the top, forming a semicircular cloister, which was very harmonious and grand, exuding a sense of power and character.
The bas-reliefs on the entire tower recreated vivid scenes of the people of Harbin, united as one, from taking an oath to ascend the embankment, transporting soil and tamping it, to fighting the flood and celebrating their victory. The overall depiction showcased the heroic spirit displayed by the people of Harbin during the flood control battle.
This memorial tower has now become a symbol of Harbin, a heroic city. It was specially built by the Harbin government to commemorate the victory in controlling the catastrophic flood that occurred in Harbin in 1957.
Chen Lan, along with Jia Yao and the others, admired the magnificent structure while explaining the story and origin of the Flood Control Memorial Tower to them.