Surprise concert wows Spring Festival passengers

Passengers enjoy a musical performance at Harbin Railway Station in Heilongjiang province on Monday, the first day of the 2019 Spring Festival travel rush. [Photo by Zhang Long/ for chinadaily.com.cn]

A variety of nine music shows, performed by around 80 people, has been scheduled at the Harbin Railway Station in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province for the 2019 Spring Festival travel rush that kicks off on Monday. 
Organized by the provincial theater and railway bureau, the performances include symphonies and solos of original songs, given jointly by professional artists and railway workers. 
Having just undergone a major facelift lasting three years, the 73,000-square-meter station has not only been equipped with some of the most state-of-the art facilities for passenger convenience, but also restored some of the original features of the architecture first built at the end of 19th century.
"We were more than surprised hearing the first note of the famous Voice of Spring," said Li Jing, a teacher from Beijing, as she was waiting at the capital city's station for a transfer train to her hometown in Jiamusi. 
"We are so lucky to enjoy a concert during the short stop here," she added.
Li Hongkui, a rail worker who wrote a song and performed it at the station, said the inspiration for the musical work is his huge sense of pride, as several high-speed railway lines have been built and put to use in the province despite extremely cold weather.