Steel Structure in Haerbin's Sophia Square
The sun quickly went down and it was already dark and yet it was only four in the afternoon. This will really ruin my body clock. I was torn between heading back to the hostel or just continue exploring. I was thinking that this is normal here and lots of people will still be outside even though the sun is already down. So exploration it is. I walked down the length of Zhongyang Street and came to a major street, which was already open to vehicular traffic. Zhongyang Street is pedestrian only. There was a row brightly lit buildings here that street so I figured to just keep walking and see what I can find. I didn’t really have any plan that afternoon as I was still trying to get used to the city of Haerbin.
Somehow I Associate This Structure with European Trains
Little did I know that my wandering would bring me to what is probably the most famous landmark in the city. As I was just walking down a row of lackluster Chinese malls, I chanced upon something which was brightly lit in the distance. I didn’t know what it was. I actually had a map, but I wasn’t using it. Anyway, as anyone would have probably done, I followed the bright light. It turns out that the bright lights were for Sophia Square, Haerbin’s number one tourist attraction. Haerbin has always been proud of its architectural heritage, this is probably their tour de force. It was rather interesting how I just managed to stumble into this square, I was planning to see it the next day since I don’t think it would have been convenient for me to look for this after the sun goes down.
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