Hometown Feeling—Century-old Jiangqiao

The summer in Harbin is just like "Sun Island" sung by Zheng Xulan: "On a bright summer day, the sky is so clear, and the beautiful Sun Island is so fascinating..."

In the early morning, I faced the warm warm wind and rushed to the Songhua River happily. The purpose was to witness the "century-old river bridge" which is one of the features of my hometown.

Although the Harbin Songhua River Bridge has long withdrawn from the stage of history, as a nationally protected cultural relic, this century-old bridge has been well preserved for people to commemorate.

The China Eastern Railway broke ground in 1898 and was completed in 1903. Harbin is located at the intersection of the main lines and branch lines of the China Eastern Railway. Harbin was born because of the Songhua River and prospered because of the Middle East Railway. It is known as the "Moscow of the East".

In 1901, the Harbin Songhua River Bridge (now called "Laojiang Bridge") on the Middle East Railway was completed and opened to traffic.

In 2013, the Middle East Railway Building Complex with "Laojiang Bridge" as the core was designated as a key national cultural relic protection unit by the State Council.

In 2014, the newly built Harbin-Qiqihar Passenger Dedicated Railway Songhua River Bridge next to the "Laojiang Bridge" was completed, and the "Laojiang Bridge" completed its century-old mission.

Therefore, "Laojiang Bridge" has witnessed Harbin's century-old development and carries the profound memories of the city and its people.

I still vaguely remember walking through here when I was in my twenties. At that time, there was a train track in the middle of the bridge and extremely narrow sidewalks on both sides.

Just as we reached the middle section of the bridge, a train roared past. With the clanging sound of the train, our hearts were shocked. Looking at the raging river outside the iron railing next to me made me panic, and it seemed that the wooden bridge deck was shaking under our feet. The train passed by, and we walked even more unsteadily. We never dared to walk on this railway bridge again.

Today's "Laojiang Bridge" is protected, and several large sections of the bridge are covered with glass decks. Fortunately, the glass was laid on the original thick sleepers. From the narrow gap, you can see the muddy yellow river water rushing past, with dark waves at the bridge piers. Basically there is no thrilling feeling like walking on the glass plank road.

On the eve of July 1st, Laojiang Bridge has become an important place to celebrate the centenary of July 1st.

At the head of the bridge stands a sign "Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China" with a beautiful pattern of the party flag and 100. Relevant large slogans are hung high on the entire railway bridge. Each colorful door is divided into various historical stages, and is equipped with iconic slogans and background images for easy photo-taking. They are bright and colorful, forming a sea of ??red.

"Starting a new journey in 2021" and "I took a photo with the party flag" attracted even more excited people.

The south side of "Laojiang Bridge" has been opened up as the Middle East Railway Park, which consists of old railway tracks, Huang Jiguang locomotive, stations, platforms, bridgeheads, pictures, character sculptures, etc. If you are looking for the "Old Jiang Bridge" and the old style of the China-Eastern Railway, this is indeed a good place.