Русский | ITAR-TASS/Patriarchia.RU | July 26, 2006
English translation by Nina Tkachuk Dimas

Private investors to rebuild wooden Orthodox temple in Harbin

The wooden St. Nicholas temple will be restored in Harbin with support from private investors. As reported by the newspaper "China Daily", the reconstruction of one of the best known buildings of Old Harbin was proposed by one of the local companies, having close ties with Russian partners.

The construction of the timbered temple with the tent arches and bulbous domes had been completed at the very beginning of the XX century, was destroyed during "the cultural revolution" (1966-1976) by the hóngwèibīng (Chinese for Red Guards).

According to a company representative, restoration of a building will cost 6.25 million dollars. The new temple, like the original, will be built without using a single nail. It will house an exhibit of Russian art and applied crafts. A representative of the Chinese company stated that investors want to develop a Russian theme park in the surrounding area -- to be decorated with sculptures of notable Russians, including Leo Tolstoy and Alexander Pushkin.