Bubu Travels The World (步步走世界) – is a new travel show produced by Xian Bu and her team based in Shanghai.
Due to the lockdown, Xian could not travel outside so she began by
introducing historical buildings, people, and stories in Harbin – her hometown.
Chinese Baroque buildings started to appear in China in the early 20th century in cities like Harbin, Beijing, Shenyang, and Wuhan. Many of them are 100 years ago. Harbin has the most of them among all Chinese cities. In this video, Xian tells you where the name “Chinese Baroque” came from and its characteristics. And she shows you in her hometown Harbin, how these buildings look nowadays. Many are well preserved and are in use. But some are not in good shape. Some are even labeled “dangerous”, as you’ll see in the video…
On the outside, Chinese Baroque buildings look European. Once you walk in, you’ll see there’s usually a Chinese-style yard. In Harbin, it’s called 圈楼, literally translated as “circle building”. It’s easy to find a restored 圈楼 which was turned to shops and restaurants to attract tourists. But it’s very difficult to find an almost original one now. Some say Harbin still had more than 200 of them a decade ago. Later, some were distorted in fires. Some collapsed. Some were blocked. Some were knocked down to make room for new buildings. Luckily and surprisingly, Xian finds one. Looks like people moved out not too long ago, and left much stuff behind…
Xian Bu was profiled in “Dreams and Dreamers” in 2016 and was a production intern in the summer of 2016 at China Personified (now a part of One in a Billion Productions Inc. )