The sharp eastern corner of No. 25 Zhongshan Road slices through the intersection, a concrete wedge anchoring a century of commerce. In November 1906, the scent of fresh pastries drifted from this exact spot. Japanese merchant Nakamura Shoichi opened a modest shop named Qifuya here. He parlayed his baking success into bank loans, replacing his ovens with Shenyang’s first comprehensive department store.

By 1934, laborers poured a robust reinforced concrete frame over 1,080 square meters. To fit the awkward diagonal street grid, architects designed a triangular chamfered layout, blunting the sharp edges. They wrapped the ground floor in heavy stone masonry, grounding the structure with a thick, stable base. Above, European-style yellow tiles caught the sun, framed by horizontal stone bands and vertical faux-pillars in a classical tripartite design.

Shoppers once browsed imported electronics and fine knitwear across five above-ground floors and a bustling underground level. The building absorbed the shocks of history. In 1940, it became the Sanzhongjing Department Store. Following Japan's 1945 surrender, the retail floors fell quiet. A sixth floor was added under a new government, and the spaces morphed into the Northeast Industrial Exhibition Hall and the Liaoning Friendship Shopping Center.

Today, the 2013-designated heritage site remains a living commercial organism. Climb the stairs, and the historic concrete absorbs the quiet footsteps of hotel guests. The structure continues its original mandate, sheltering the daily transactions of a changing city.