Sharing cultures, building connections

He said the underlying philosophy — honoring the historical fabric while embedding modern urban functions — mirrors the approach taken in Germany.

For Olaf Fromme, chairman of the association "Save the Old Town of Stralsund", preservation is ultimately a dialogue between past and future. "The preservation needs a sensible, healthy balance between the past and the future. It makes little sense to reproduce a historic house unchanged if people cannot live in it properly."

Olaf said cooperation with Huangshan could help through an exchange of experience. Both cities have followed different paths, and each can learn from the methods the other has developed to protect historic buildings and keep its old town attractive and alive.

For Fromme's organization, that principle is translated into practical, sometimes small-scale action.

Heiko Werner, its treasurer, said the association encourages owners to retain and restore their properties, sometimes by supporting repairs to a door, a window or a small fresco.

For Dagmar Fromme, Olaf's wife and a local tour guide in Stralsund, such preservation is deeply personal. The historic center is not simply a collection of protected buildings, but the setting of memories that have shaped her own life.

"The Alter Markt (a historic square in Stralsund) is deeply personal to me. My grandmother lived nearby, and my husband and I met here more than 40 years ago.

"The square and surrounding buildings were once badly deteriorated, but over the past 30 years they have been restored with enormous effort. Today people can sit here, watch the world go by and enjoy the old town's special atmosphere," she said.