The Large Central Mall 中央商城 in Haerbin
The Zhongyang Street is probably one of the most important streets in the city of Haerbin in Heilongjiang province. This pedestrian shopping street showcases most of the heritage architecture that can be found in this sprawling city of four million. I would have expected that being so far up north, there won’t be as much development and modernity here in Haerbin. I couldn’t have been any more wrong. Zhongyang Street, being a pedestrian shopping street also hosts a few shopping centers and malls. Probably one of the most prominent ones is the Central Mall or Zhongyang Mall 中央商城.
Entrance to the Central Mall 中央商城 in Haerbin
The Central Mall is probably the biggest shopping mall here in Zhongyang Street. The facade tries to evoke a European design but it somehow feels unauthentic since the supposedly heritage building looks almost brand new. It even looks freshly painted. Maybe the weather here in Haerbin isn’t bad enough to lay buildings to ruin after a few years. I have been to several shopping centers in China and they tend to look alike, I wasn’t really interested in what they sell. I was here for some architecture, fortunately, there is still more.
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