A town "pulled by trains"

This aerial photo taken on Dec. 2, 2023 shows a demonstration area of a locomotive shed at the Chinese Eastern Railway museum in Hengdaohezi Town of Hailin City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo by Fan Junchen/Xinhua)

HARBIN, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- In a snow-covered small town, tourists swarmed into a century-old Russian-style house, sipping steaming fruit tea and enjoying the icy landscape through the window.

Dubbed "a town pulled by trains," Hengdaohezi, located in the city of Hailin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, was originally established in the late 19th century when Russians built train maintenance workshops and other facilities there following the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway.

Thanks to the 256 well-preserved Russian-style buildings built since then, including six under state-level protection, the exotic town has become a hot tourist destination, especially in winter, featuring captivating ice and snow resources.

Wang Xue, hailing from north China's Tianjin Municipality, dropped by the town for a brief tour after skiing in the provincial capital of Harbin.

"The snow scenes in Hengdaohezi are beautiful and full of exotic charm. It is an ideal place for photoshoots with its magnificent view," Wang said.

Song Xingwen, who is enthusiastic about Russian culture, first visited Hengdaohezi in 2018 and instantly fell in love with the town. He then bought a century-old Russian-style house there and transformed it into a homestay.

"I retained the original style of the house during the decoration, and moved my collections of Russian antiques here," said Song. "My homestay has become a 'Russian-style household museum' popular among tourists."

In addition to Russian-style houses, the town has also developed a series of tourist attractions such as a Siberian tiger forest park and a movie and TV play shooting resort.

According to Ma Lina, a keeper at the town's Siberian tiger forest park, winter is the best time for tourists to visit the park. "Tigers are more active in freezing weather and their skins in the snow appear brighter."

Since the opening of a high-speed railway traversing through Hengdaohezi in 2018, the town has seen a surge in visitors.

It has received about 1 million tourists so far this year compared to approximately 800,000 in 2018, according to the local tourism bureau.

Wei Hongmei, Party chief of Hailin City, said that with Hengdaohezi becoming a tourism hotspot, the city has been continuing to foster its tourism industry in recent years and regularly holds tourist activities, including an ice and snow festival and a winter fishing event.

"We are striving to turn our ice and snow resources into a booming economy," Wei said.

This aerial photo taken on Dec. 2, 2023 shows the scenery of Hengdaohezi Town in Hailin City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo by Fan Junchen/Xinhua)