This undated photo shows one of the Russian-style old houses in city Shangzhi, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. [Photo: harbinnews.com]

A rare architectural ensemble of 127 Russian-style old buildings have recently been discovered by experts in the town of Yimianpo in city Shangzhi, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

Located in Yimianpo, an old town about 19 kilometers in southeastern Shangzhi, a city that is about 124 kilometers west of Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province, the group of century old rare buildings have long been kept unknown to the outside.

Record shows foreigners swarmed into the old town of Yimianpo at the end of the 19th century and built large quantities of houses, featuring wooden doors and windows, internal fireplaces and storerooms, and embossment on external walls. These mainly Russian-flavored houses are now still in use, as residences, hospitals, inns and so on.

An officer in the local cultural relics management office, Deng Shuping, was the first who discovered the value of these neglected old architectures and called for urgent preservation of them.

Due to a lack of management, current owners of these old buildings have been making alternations to the houses all these past decades. Without proper conservation, the buildings may eventually disappear, Deng Shuping warns.

At the moment, local authorities have applied for provincial-level protection of these architectures. The town is now setting up detailed archives and also plans to apply apply for their state-level protection.

(CRIENGLISH.com September 19, 2007)