Former Site of the Russian Concession Police Station in Hankou

A red-brick mansion still stands at the intersection of Lihuangpi Road and Dongting Street in Wuhan, though its true identity is often misunderstood. Built in 1902 as the residence and office of the Russian tea merchant Nakvashen—chief manager of the Russo-Chinese Bank's Hankou branch and later chairman of the Russian concession council—the building only briefly served as a police station for the Russian concession authorities before the concession was returned to China in 1924. The actual Russian concession police station, located on what is now Shengli Street, was destroyed by American aerial bombing in 1944.

The three-story brick-and-wood structure features a colonial classical style, with a double-tiered arched veranda and a prominent tower that blends European Renaissance characteristics with Russian architectural elements. Its asymmetrical facade emphasizes the entrance at one end, while the tower above creates a vertical contrast with the main body of the building.

According to local lore, the revolutionary Xia Minghan was imprisoned here in March 1928 and composed his famous death-row poem before his execution—though this claim remains unconfirmed by official historical records. What is certain is that the building witnessed the rise and fall of the Russian concession and the transformation of Hankou as a major tea trading port.

Today, the mansion is a protected cultural relic of Wuhan city, designated in 2011. It has been adaptively reused as a commercial space, hosting a modern tea shop on its upper floors. Visitors can touch the rough brick walls of the old vault and sip tea where a Russian merchant once managed his trade, linking the modern leisure of Wuhan with the layered memories of colonial commerce and revolutionary history.