Harbin Railway Station Demolition

A panorama of the ongoing demolition of the old front square and buildings of the Harbin Railway Station! The rebuilt station (operational throughout the renovations) will front a grand new plaza facing north rather than southeast.

Common Sense Takes A Holiday

I sometimes think common sense has taken a holiday here...a long, long, possibly permanent holiday! This is of the metro construction along Hongqi Avenue in eastern Harbin, and if you look closely on the left under the trees you can see a mom and her toddler, not even two meters away from where a huge steel beam is being lowered into the earth. There's nothing protecting them beyond the flimsy barricade pictured - one slip and someone will have lost his wife and child in an instant.

China: Safety First?

Road safety is such a big priority in China, as you can see here, where in the middle of repair work on a bridge for one of the city's busiest roads the city has very carefully separated vehicles and pedestrians to ensure the safety of all...haha, okay, so maybe not! But I have to walk through here most days on my way to work and I haven't been hit by a bus yet, so that's something...

Metro Construction

Construction is finally underway on the Harbin Metro's Line 3! What's disappointing about the construction is that instead of working on one segment of the line and only disrupting traffic in one corner of the city, someone decided it would be best to begin construction on ALL of the stops. (Pictured is one of the construction sites on Hongqi Avenue.) Line 3 is a ring line, so there's significant disruption to the Harbin's traffic going on all around the city. Even so, I have the feeling that Harbin will be much easier to get around in a few years' time!

Construction in Qunli

It is utterly amazing and also a little scary how quickly buildings go up here! These were just foundations the last time I walked by two weeks ago and now they're already quite tall...

Passersby Beware!

This has got to be a safety hazard! Never a dull moment...