In December 2025, with the support of the Russian Émigré Heritage Foundation, the Centre for Eurasian Studies at the European University at St Petersburg launched a new project dedicated to Russian architectural heritage in China.
The project explores the redevelopment of the historic Chinese Eastern Railway quarter in Harbin as a joint campus of St Petersburg University and the Harbin Institute of Technology. The Chinese Eastern Railway was one of the most remarkable projects of the late Russian Empire, combining engineering ambition with a far-reaching vision of cross-regional connectivity. In China, however, its legacy has long been viewed through different lenses. Some interpretations emphasise its colonial and expansionist dimensions, while others draw attention to the historical, cultural, and architectural significance of the surviving buildings and infrastructure.
In recent years, urban renewal projects have expanded rapidly across China. These initiatives seek to integrate historic architecture into contemporary urban life while highlighting the continuity of the country’s cultural traditions, including those shaped by the many peoples who have lived within its borders.
The project therefore explores the extent to which the new joint campus draws on and reinterprets the Russian architectural and cultural heritage of the Chinese Eastern Railway and of Harbin as a whole. The research team considers this case both an example of heritage reinterpretation and a symbol of Russian-Chinese cultural, academic, and scientific cooperation.
As part of the project, the team will also develop a bilingual tourist route aimed at placing both the historic quarter and the new joint university campus more firmly on Harbin’s cultural and historical map. The route will be created in collaboration with graduates of the European University at St Petersburg’s short professional course in tour guiding.
Project Lead
Igor Khodachek
Principal Researchers
Yaroslav Snarsky, Polina Rysakova