In the 1990s, at the height of the railway boom in the Greater Khingan Range, the Yiturihe Railway Branch Bureau built a grand gymnasium for its workers and families. Completed as a large indoor sports facility, the Former Site of Yiturihe Gymnasium stood as a proud symbol of the community's vitality, hosting basketball matches, training sessions, and cultural events.

Above, a shallow arched steel roof spans the vast main hall, its corrugated metal cladding painted a faded blue that still catches the northern light. Below, a grid of tall, narrow windows set into the reinforced concrete facade allows daylight to pour onto the polished hardwood floor, once marked for basketball and badminton. A raised spectator gallery supported by slender steel columns runs along one side, offering clear sightlines for hundreds of onlookers. The builders used thick insulated walls and deep concrete footings to withstand the region's extreme winter temperatures, while operable high-level vents ensured cross-ventilation during the brief summer months.

Today, the Former Site of Yiturihe Gymnasium stands vacant and abandoned. The branch bureau was abolished in 1998, and the town's population dwindled, leaving the hall silent. Its steel frame shows patches of rust, and the wooden floor has buckled from moisture intrusion. Its silent courts remain a poignant monument not only to the railway era but also to China's sepak takraw heritage, its weathered facade still testifying to the ambitions and daily lives of the thousands who once filled it with life.