This book is an interdisciplinary examination of the cross-cultural interactions in border cities in colonial era and its impact on urban development in the globalized world at present. It involves East Asia and Russia studies, urban culture and history studies, geopolitics and border studies, transnational communication, and post colonialism. It is also helpful for studying architectural heritage, economic development and social culture in semi-colonial Northeast China, and its influence on contemporary urban planning and on people's perception of the identities of the once colonized cities and of the future of these cities.