Harbin to build foreign language town

The commencement ceremony of the Harbin Linda Foreign Language Town project was held on April 20 in Harbin’s Songbei New District.

The project, to be built by Beijing Linda Group, is expected to be put into use next May.

The foreign language town, covering an area of 170,000 square meters, is located at the core area of Xueyuan Road college town.

About 3 billion yuan ($435 million) will be invested into the project, with mosaic art as its theme.

Four pillar industries will be developed in the town: education, tourism, media and retail.

Meanwhile, two five-star hotels will be built along with another 200 projects. The project operator is now speeding up the process of the town's construction and striving to complete the framework of the town by the end of this year.

"English will be the official language in the foreign language town,” said Jiang Cheng, the person taking charge of the project.

All the logos and introductions used in the town will be written in English creating an English environment for those who would like to study the language there.

Visitors can also view western-style architecture in the town, for example, the replica of Germany's New Swan Stone Castle.

Meanwhile, the foreign language town will have replicas of 30 famous streets and tourist attractions from nine countries, including England, Germany and France.

Visitors will be able to hear more than 10 different foreign languages in the town and parades will be held to celebrate 60 different foreign festivals. International competitions such as Miss Universe and Miss World will also be held there.