The bell, founded in Russia in 1866, returned to Harbin on Thursday, November 11. It is supposed that at one time this bell was on the belfry of the Church of Sophia-The Wisdom of God, although one can't rule out the possibility that it is one of the bells of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas destroyed by the Red Guards (红卫兵 hóngwèibīng in Chinese transcription) during the years of the notorious "cultural revolution". According to Nikolai Zaika, the only Russian of Harbin who was able to buy back his grandfather's Harbin house from the city authorities, very long ago he heard the story from "a Russian that one of the bells from the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas was taken away far from Harbin. The bell was in a Chinese prison." Nikolai Zaika does not exclude the possibility that this same cathedral bell has returned to Harbin.
The bell is 52 centimeters in height, 54 centimeters in diameter, weighs 500 kilograms with the ringer; on its surface three icons have been well preserved and images of God's Angels and also the inscription "This bell was founded in 1866 in the city of Tyumen by the commercial masters, Gilev Brothers." The bell is on the premises of the Northeast China Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall (东北烈士纪念馆 Dōngběi Lièshì Jìniànguǎn ), which also named "The Heilongjiang Museum of the Revolution" (黑龙江省革命博物馆 Hēilóngjiāngshěng Gémìng Bówùguǎn ). The bell was discovered by a Harbin collector of antiquities, You Chunhua, at a warehouse of an agricultural brigade at a place called Fènghuángshān (凤凰山) near the city of Běi'ān (北安), situated on one of the branches of the former China Far East Railway (Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga, KVZhD). Local peasants, as much as many remember - "at the sounds of the bell went to have dinner and ended their day's labors."
Nikolai Zaika believes the bell's return to Harbin to be a sign. The Chinese engaged in the preservation of the city's historical image and in the study of its complicated history are of the same opinion. Before his trip to retrieve the bell You Chunhua was given several "sacred" amulets by the local Buddhist monks. Before loading the bell onto a minibus, local residents arranged for the bell a respectful farewell ceremony -- with cannonade of firecrackers, which are invariable at such solemn occasions. On arriving in Harbin, the bell, according to the journalist and brilliant expert on Harbin's past, Zeng Yizhi, "was transferred to the premises of the Museum with honor and attention." Wonderful details regarding the bell's return to Harbin spread throughout the city: at the agricultural brigade, the bell had been placed for transportation onto wooden beam carefully wrapped in red material which were laid in the interior of the minibus. The trip to Harbin took all day -- the bus traveled on country roads and on high-speed lanes. But no folds were formed on the red material -- the bell stood on the beams as if poured onto a mold. Old natives of Harbin say that the city, whose patron is considered to be St. Nicholas, the Well Pleasing, must regain its unique image anew.
-Dmitry Napara