Built in 1907, the St. Sophia Church is the most notable and famous landmark of Harbin with the typical Russian style. Housing some old black and white photos of Harbin, the St Sophia Church should be on the list of every visitor in the city.

St. Sophia Church is a typical architecture of Byzantine covering an area of about 721 square meters. 53.35 meters high, both the exterior and interior of the church was well-designed and beautifully decorated. A big green Byzantine spherical pinnacle commands four smaller tent-shaped pinnacles in typical Russian style is the main characteristic of the church. Designed to be a cross-shape in the east-west direction, the church totally has four floors. The walls are covered by red bricks and on each floor there are four doors in four directions. The highlight of the church is that at the top part of the main entrance there sitting a bell tower housing 7 bells in different sizes. The biggest bell in the tower was made up of metal weight in 1.8 tons, with a diameter of 1.425 meter. In the middle of the bell, there are four saints. It is said that the clangs can resound and could be heard by the people even in dozens of kilometers away. St. Sophia Church was badly damaged during the cultural revolution but later restored to its original 1907 splendor.

St. Sophia Church had went through considerable decline during the 1990s, which was no longer in use at that time. As for depression, the magnificent Russian painted murals decorated the church's arched walls were destroyed and disappeared. With the development of tourism in Harbin, in 1997, the local government decided to rebuilt the church and brought back its originally scene to the public. But for the original Russian murals were completely destroyed, they had to be replaced by topically new murals which could show the architectural history of the Harbin community. Now, the murals, pendent lamps, dome and the bell tower are restored to their original splendor.

The St. Sophia Church was designated as Harbin Architectural Art Gallery in 1996. With the typical European style, the church gains much more worldwide attention. Every day it attracts lots of tourists come to relax and take pictures. Visitors could taste of the charm of Russian architecture style by visiting the St. Sophia Church in Harbin today.