A quick dash through Harbin and not much time to do something I keep meaning to and stay at the Hotel Moderne. The hotel – famous between the wars and a major center of Jewish and foreign culture at the time (and Japanese spies) has predictably been mucked about a bit but is still sort of intact. In the old days the service was apparently impeccable – Chinese, Korean and White Russian employees mingled among the crowds attending musical performances.

According to the plaque outside put up by the Harbin Municipal Government’s Urban Planning Bureau – the hotel was built by a Russian-Jewish merchant in 1906 and completed in 1913; designed by CA Vensaen and qualifies as Art Nouveau. You get the idea from the ad.

I’m prompted to think about the Hotel Moderne not just after dashing through Harbin for a few hours but as I also recently came across this old luggage label from the place.
If you’re passing through the hotel is at 89 Central Street, Daoli District