Ladies and Gentlemen:Today we are going to visit Zhongyang Street. This is the downtown area. In order to better know the street, we are going to walk through it, which takes about 40 minutes. Those who do not like walking may keep seated, our coach will go along another street and stop at the Flood Control Monument. Those who cannot walk that far may take a taxi to the Flood Control Monument. Now let6’s get off the coach, and take a walk on Zhongyang Street.Have you noticed the cobbled road surface? This is the only cobbled street left in Harbin. This cobbled street was paved in 1925. Thanks to the good quality, the street has kept in good shape with a few repairs in the past. This street began to take shape as an international street in the 1920s. There were over a hundred shops and many were owned by forergners, such as Russians, Greeks, Czechs, Swedes, Swiss, Frenchmen, Germans and Englishmen. They built their shops in their individual styles. Therefore, the street not only looked like a foreign street, but also was controlled by foreigners. Now this smooth cobbled street may remind us of the past when foreigners were sitting in chariots along the street, as if we could still hear the horse-hoofs clicking on cobbles.At we go along the road, we are able to see the Central Pharmacy. It was a bungalow before. In 1912, German Sidemen’s opened a shop here to sell electrical equipment and materials. After liberation, it was reconstructed. Now you can find not only medicine here, but also the Gold lion shop, a super-market and a Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant.This shopping Center was opened in 1995. Its original site was a shop managed by a Swede. It dealt in china, porc...
