China Eastern Railway Park (Binzhou Railway Bridge)

Binzhou Line bridge over the Songhua River built in 1900 (China's first cross-river railway bridge and a Chinese Eastern Railway hub), retired and converted into a pedestrian sightseeing bridge (“internet-famous bridge” night views); China Eastern Railway Impression Hall. Completed in 1900, the Binzhou Line bridge over the Songhua River was China's first cross-river railway bridge; as a hub project of the Chinese Eastern Railway, it carried unbroken rail traffic between China and Russia for a century. After the railway bridge was retired in 2014, it was converted into a pedestrian sightseeing bridge, with the steel trusses and riveted structure kept as they were and a stretch of track and sleepers preserved in the middle of the deck. Walking the bridge high above the river, the history of trains crossing blends with the river breeze on your face. At night the light strips along the bridge come on, making it the most photogenic “internet-famous bridge” on the Songhua River; the China Eastern Railway Impression Hall at the north end is free to enter and tells the story of how this railway gave birth to Harbin. It's a short walk from the north end of Central Street and, together with the Flood Control Memorial Tower, forms a riverside walking route.

Getting there: Walk from the north end of Central Street