Much of Harbin's early history revolved around struggles over the city's identity and also for control of the city's colonial legacy. The city's Russian past, in particular, has existed uneasily alongside its development as a Chinese city, and nearly a century after Russian control over the city ended, the competition over Harbin's identity continues to evolve. After many decades of denying and dismissing Harbin's colonial past, local, regional, and national Chinese governments are now exploiting that past as an asset for the city's economic development. Building on trends that first emerged in the 1990s, Harbin's Chinese rulers are now turning to the city's non-Chinese past as a means of competing in a global cultural and economic environment. More than attracting foreigners focused on nostalgia, however, Harbin seems eager to present itself as example of the “occidental” exotic for Chinese domestic tourists.