St. Sophia Orthodox Cathedral in Harbin, China- My family history.

        This is a modern picture of the St. Sophia Orthodox Christian Cathedral in Harbin, China. One side of my family passed through this piece of history during the very early period of the twentieth century, approximately 1905. The cathedral was finished in 1907. Going back before this, my great-great grandfather, who was a former "white" soldier of the Russian Tsar's army from the Penza Oblast province, escaped after the 1905 Russian defeat in the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905; as well as from the 1905 Bolshevik revolution that began to transpire due to the Tsar's inability to adapt to changing world views of government pertaining to autocracy, nationality and orthodoxy- the 3 pillars of Russian Imperialism. As such, My great-great grandfather could not risk his family's safety any further, and decided to escape through the Trans-Siberian Railway that led to Harbin, China. Not much is known during this dark period of my family's history. 
What can be discerned is the 1910 census of the American population of the United States, which listed two of my Russian grandparent's children as being born in Manchuria, along the trans-Manchurian railway that runs parallel to the Trans-Siberian railway, respectively. It can be concluded as a very high probability that my ancestors stopped in Harbin before sailing for the United States; which, if this is correct it would put them very near the construction of the cathedral. Harbin, China was also known to be a safe haven for Russian "white" emigres who were escaping the Red peril that was emerging, or the Bolshevik communists as they are more commonly known. After the cathedral was finished in 1907, and by 1910 my Russian family members arrived in Hawai'i, and then sailed to San Francisco shortly after. It was a miracle the cathedral survived the cataclysmic events that transpired during the first and second world wars, and even through Mao Zedong's "Great Leap Forward," where communist revolutionaries overthrew the nationalist government of China. The picture below is an early representation of the "Christ the Savior Cathedral" in Borki, Ukraine, which was the inspiration behind the construction of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Harbin, China. However, even though there is no empirical proof that my grandfather participated in the construction of the orthodox cathedral, census data suggests the high probability that he did, or at the very least prayed and worshiped there on his way to freedom. Thank you for reading with me this personal piece of history, as we peered "Through the Looking Glass" at a distant and often overlooked subject of Russian and Chinese history.