On the evening of April 19th, the melodious sound of flute drifted out from the balcony of a building located at the intersection of Central Street and Huapu Street in Harbin, slowly opened the prelude to the century-old street's spring and summer music performance. In the coming months, "fair-sounding notes shuttle through classic buildings, and beautiful music flows through the century-old street" will become the norm here, attracting tourists from both domestic and foreign countries. Actually, the 1450 meter long Central Street has never lacked popularity since its inception in 1900. The row upon row of European architecture, distinctive cultural and tourism activities, and fashionable and cutting-edge commercial formats continue to radiate the charm of a century-old street, so that citizens and tourists fully experience the century-old cultural heritage of Harbin and appreciate the city’s unique romantic, fashionable, and elegant temperament in this "cultural landmark" and "city business card".

Every old street is a reflection of a city's history, and the Central Street is no exception. When the Middle East railway spanning the Eurasian continent extended to Harbin, the ancient river crossing on the south bank of the Songhua River became an unloading dock. The carriage loaded with railway equipment rolled out a muddy dirt road between the swamp and reed pond, extending towards the south, where thousands of road builders lived on its both sides. In 1900, this dirt road was named Chinese Street, and in 1925 it was renamed Central Street. The integration of Western culture has diversified its architectural styles within the neighborhood. From the Renaissance style to the Baroque style, to the eclectic and Art Nouveau style buildings, each building that reflects the essence of western architectural art, creates the unique European style of Central Street, thus earning the century-old street the reputation of "architectural art museum".

"There are 71 European style and imitating European style buildings on Central Street, including 13 municipal protected buildings with various styles such as Renaissance and Baroque. For convenience of tourists to understand the characteristics and historical stories of each building, the Office of the Central Street Management Committee sets up QR codes with digital methods, so that citizens and tourists can listen to, see, and read buildings by scanning the codes so as to explore the 'past and present' of old buildings." said Gong Jianhong, Director of the Office of the Central Street Management Committee.

On the century-old street, not just buildings, the commercial activities carried by them contain many historical imprints. At the corner of the old street, a Western restaurant with a sign "Since 1901" attracts visitors to stop and admire. The old film recording time sedimentation, the yellowed papers of the guest-book, and the vintage cash register... especially the ancient piano produced in the 19th century displayed at the end of the corridor of the Western restaurant, with the mottled body, missing keys, and disconnected sheet music, all seem to be telling historical stories. In a hotel on a century-old street, there is an old elevator that was produced 118 years ago, with retractable iron fence doors and push buttons, visitors feel like going through a section of a century-old time when the elevator is rising layer by layer.

Not long after its birth, Central Street became a famous commercial street, and up to this day, it still thrives because its pursuit of trends has never slowed down. With the continuously increasing input in neighborhood renovation and business format upgrading in recent years, this century-old street has been constantly endowed with new annotations. The emergence of bars, cafes, flower shops and other new businesses formats emerge, not only bring vitality to the 1450 meter main street, but also inject new connotations into the 25 auxiliary streets. On the century-old streets, people are no longer just walking and looking around, but can find a sense of leisure and comfort in seemingly casual but in fact carefully crafted environments.

Just this past winter, "Erbin" has become a hot destination for tourists. As one of the popular tourist attractions that should not be missed, the Central Street is bustling with people both day and night, with an average daily passenger flow of over 400,000 person-times.

Nowadays, the Office of the Central Street Management Committee is deeply exploring red tourism resources, designing and launching red themed routes, so that citizens and tourists, following the red footsteps, search for red memories to convey the red spirit. "Now, we are making every effort to plan a continuous renovation and improvement project for the Central Street Pedestrian Mall, strengthening business format adjustment, investment promotion, integration of business, culture and tourism, and event planning. We are deeply cultivating cultural and tourism integration, digging into historical and cultural resources, folk customs, European fashion, and other resources. From multiple perspectives such as seasons, themes, and forms, we will create more immersive, interactive, and experiential new formats integrating business, culture and tourism. We will enhance the warm service atmosphere by further strengthening management in tourism services, facilities, environment, and other aspects in order to polish the spring and summer tourism brand of the Central Street." Gong Jianhong said.