Historical heritage of Chinese Eastern Railway and formation of the image of Russia in the northeast of China

The Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) and the city of Harbin historically played an important role in Northeast China. The CER had a great influence on the economic and political development of that region and also became an important factor in the cultural interaction between the Chinese and the Russians. The CER exerted an active influence on the formation of the image of Russia and Russians in China. The image formation and development depend on numerous factors including visual objects. In this context architectural monuments and engineering structures, especially if they are carefully preserved, occupy an important place in the historical memory discourse. Nowadays, the attitude of the Chinese to the foreign heritage has generally changed. In particular, this refers to the evaluation of the achievements brought to China by foreigners and their significance for the country. This also applies to the preserved Russian buildings located in Harbin and along the line of the CER. The architectural and construction heritage of the CER nowadays becomes an object of studies in China. In addition, the article discusses some other aspects of the effect of the Russian presence on the everyday culture in Northeast China, which the Chinese continue to preserve today. The relevance of the article arises from the need to study the formation and development of Sino-Russian mutual images at different stages of the history and in different regions, since these images and stereotypes inevitably affect bilateral relations. The novelty of the article lies in the fact that the influence of the historical heritage of the CER on the formation of the image of Russia in the Northeast of China has not been studied so far.