Tourist attractions along Qiqihar-Urumqi railway line

The pictures show the cranes at the Zhalong Nature Preserve in Qiqihar. [Photo/Chinaplusnews]

Qiqihar & Harbin

Qiqihar is the second largest city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province. It has the Zhalong Nature Preserve, a first-class wetland known as a stopover and nesting area for cranes.

The marshland is a major migratory route for birds from the Arctic migrating to Southeast Asia. Its ponds and reeds make it an ideal home for over 300 different species including storks, swans, herons and grebes.

310 km away from the city lays Harbin, capital of the province, which is notable for its ice sculpture festival in winter and national music festival in summer.

If travelers happen to miss both, there is the third choice -- European-style architecture and food. The must-go first stop has to be Saint Sophia Cathedral, a former Russian Orthodox church built in 1907.

As a perfect example of Neo-Byzantine architecture, its main structure is laid out like a cross with the main hall topped with a huge green-tipped dome. Under the bright sun, the church and the square resemble Moscow's Red Square.

Harbin has a 100,000-square-km "Russian village" for nostalgic tourists who have a crush on the exotic land, where they can appreciate 27 villas and residential buildings of Russian manners popular during the last century.