China Street (Part 1)

The earliest China Street had a street sign that read: 'Китайская Улица' (Kitayskaya Ulitsa). This is Russian; because it was awkward for Chinese people to pronounce, they abbreviated it as 'Qiedanshikaya', which literally means 'China Street'. The name 'China Street' originated in 1900.

Many people might wonder why Russian was used on the street signs since it was originally Chinese territory. This was because the street was part of the Chinese Eastern Railway's附属地 (subsidiary territory), and the treaties explicitly stated that the street names would be decided by the Russians. However, since many Chinese people lived on this street from the very beginning, the Chinese Eastern Railway authorities went along with it and called it China Street.

At first, China Street was a dirt road. On sunny days, dust flew everywhere, and on rainy days, it became muddy and impassable; whenever a cart passed, the road would heave. As more and more merchants settled on both sides of the street, the inconvenience of daily life became apparent, so people began to spread loess on the road, lay gravel, and place wooden planks over the drainage ditches for walking.

In 1900, construction of the Songhua River Bridge began, and the living quarters and work sheds for the construction workers were also built. By 1901, the bridge was completed, and the main railway line connecting the bridge crossed the river from the eastern boundary of the Harbor District. With the waterfront docks to the north and the railway artery running through the east, the Harbor District's status as a transportation hub became increasingly important.

At that time, on China Street and the surrounding streets, shops and businesses sprang up one after another, but all the shop signs were written in Russian. Although some signs had both Chinese and Russian characters, the storefronts were not large. Most of these first prosperous businesses used the name of the street they were on to indicate the main business or characteristic of that street. For example, if there was a pharmacy on a street, it was called 'Pharmacy Street'; if there was an insurance company, it was called 'Insurance Street'. Thus, 'Bread Street' and 'Bazaar Street' got their names, but the street signs were still written in Russian.

At that time, because China Street was in a central location, many visionary merchants opened shops there despite the low-lying terrain and other inconveniences.

In 1906, a Russian Jewish merchant named Joseph Caspe opened a watch repair shop on China Street, not far from the river, and later also dealt in jewelry. In 1913, he co-founded the Modier Hotel.

Subsequently, the Qiulin Department Store Daoli Branch (now the Yanshui Primary School), the Sasunovich Brothers Association (now the Daoli Qiulin Company), the Japanese-run Matsuyama Yokohama (Education Bookstore), and other Western-style buildings were constructed one after another. These buildings were bold and romantic in design and concept. The entire China Street, from the banks of the Songhua River southward, resembled a gallery of European architectural art. From then on, the reputation of China Street grew increasingly prominent. As a result, it was decided to pave the road.