Exploring Harbin
Saint Sophia Church is the largest Russian Orthodox church in Far East Asia. The church was originally built from wood for Russian troops in 1907. In 1923, it was torn down and on the same site a new version was constructed with bricks. It took nine years to finish and was completed in 1932. The church now houses the Harbin Architecture and Arts Centre which displays an intirguing collection of black-and-white photographs of the city dating back to the early 1900s.