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Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a
sub-provincial city A sub-provincial division () in China is a prefecture-level city governed by a province promoted by half a level. Thus, it is half a level under the provincial level (hence the name sub-provincial) but half a level above the prefecture-level. ...
and the provincial capital and the largest city of
Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () Postal romanization, formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a Provinces of China, province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is th ...
province,
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, as well as the second largest city by urban population after
Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the provi ...
and largest city by metropolitan population (urban and rural together) in
Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...
. Harbin has direct jurisdiction over nine metropolitan districts, two county-level cities and seven counties, and is the eighth most populous Chinese city according to the 2020 census. The built-up area of Harbin (which consists of all districts except Shuangcheng and Acheng) had 5,841,929 inhabitants, while the total metropolitan population was up to 10,009,854, making it one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. Harbin, whose name was originally a Manchu word meaning "a place for drying fishing nets", grew from a small rural settlement on the
Songhua River The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, russian: Сунгари ''Sungari'') is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur. It flows about from the Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea bo ...
to become one of the largest cities in Northeast China. Founded in 1898 with the coming of the Chinese Eastern Railway, the city first prospered as a region inhabited by an overwhelming majority of immigrants from the Russian Empire. In the 1920s, the city was considered China's fashion capital since new designs from
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
and
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
reached here first before arriving in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
. From 1932 until 1945, Harbin was the largest city in the Imperial Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Known for its bitterly cold winters, Harbin is heralded as the ''Ice City'' () for its winter tourism and recreations. Harbin is notable for its ice sculpture festival in the winter. Being well known for its historical Russian legacy and architecture—the city is famed for its European influence, and serves as an important gateway in Sino-Russian trade today. Harbin serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural and communications hub in Northeast China, as well as an important industrial base of the nation. The city was voted "China Top Tourist City" by the China National Tourism Administration in 2004. Harbin is one of the top 100 cities and metropolitan areas in the world by scientific research output as tracked by the
Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries and their scientific output since its introduction in November, 2014. Each year, Nature Index ranks the leading institutions (which can be companies, universities, government agen ...
. The city hosts several major universities in
Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...
, including Harbin Engineering, Harbin Medical, Northeast Agricultural,
Harbin University of Science and Technology Harbin University of Science and Technology () is a university in Harbin, China. Previously known as Harbin University of Science and Technology (). It is colloquially known as Hakeda (), or Harbin Institute of Electrical Technology(). It is collo ...
, Harbin Normal, Northeast Forestry, and
Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () Postal romanization, formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a Provinces of China, province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is th ...
. Notably, Harbin Institute of Technology is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in the world for engineering.


History


Early history

Human settlement in the Harbin area dates from at least 2200 BC during the late
Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with ...
. Wanyan Aguda, the founder and first emperor (reigned 1115–1123) of the Jin dynasty (1115–1234), was born in the
Jurchen Jurchen may refer to: * Jurchen people, Tungusic people who inhabited the region of Manchuria until the 17th century ** Haixi Jurchens, a grouping of the Jurchens as identified by the Chinese of the Ming Dynasty ** Jianzhou Jurchens, a grouping of ...
Wanyan The Wanyan (; Manchu: ''Wanggiyan''; Jurchen script: ) clan was among the clans of the Heishui Mohe tribe living in the drainage region of the Heilong River during the time of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty. Of the Heishui Mohe, the clan was coun ...
tribes who resided near the
Ashi River The Ashi River is a right tributary of the Songhua in eastern Manchuria,. in Harbin's Acheng District in the People's Republic of China. Name The river has borne the name "Ashi" since the Qing (17th–20th century). Before that, it was known as t ...
in this region. In AD 1115 Aguda established Jin's capital Shangjing (Upper Capital) Huining Prefecture in today's Acheng District of Harbin. After Aguda's death, the new emperor Wanyan Sheng ordered the construction of a new city on a uniform plan. The planning and construction emulated major Chinese cities, in particular
Bianjing Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nor ...
(
Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...
), although the Jin capital was smaller than its Northern Song prototype.Tao (1976). Pages 28-32. Huining Prefecture served as the first superior capital of the Jin empire until Wanyan Liang (the fourth emperor of Jin Dynasty) moved the capital to Yanjing (now
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
) in 1153.Tao, p. 44. Liang even went so far as to destroy all palaces in his former capital in 1157. Wanyan Liang's successor Wanyan Yong ( Emperor Shizong) restored the city and established it as a secondary capital in 1173. Ruins of the Shangjing Huining Prefecture were discovered and excavated about from present-day Acheng's central urban area. The site of the old Jin capital ruins is a national historic reserve, and includes the . The museum, open to the public, was renovated in late 2005. Mounted statues of Aguda and of his chief commander Wanyan Zonghan (also Nianhan) stand in the grounds of the museum. Many of the artifacts found there are on display in nearby Harbin. After the Mongol conquest of the Jin Empire (1211–1234), Huining Prefecture was abandoned. In the 17th century, the Manchus used building materials from Huining Prefecture to construct their new stronghold in Alchuka. The region of Harbin remained largely rural until the 1800s, with over ten villages and about 30,000 people in the city's present-day urban districts by the end of the 19th century.


International city

A small village in 1898 grew into the modern city of Harbin. Polish engineer Adam Szydłowski drew plans for the city following the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway, which the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
had financed. The Russians selected Harbin as the base of their administration over this railway and the Chinese Eastern Railway Zone. The railways were largely constructed by Russian engineers and indentured workers. The Chinese Eastern Railway extended the Trans-Siberian Railway: substantially reducing the distance from Chita to Vladivostok and also linking the new port city of Dalny (
Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...
) and the Russian naval base of Port Arthur ( Lüshun). The settlement founded by the Russian-owned Chinese Eastern Railway quickly turned into a "boomtown", growing into a city within five years. The majority of settlers in Harbin came from southern Ukraine (Russian Empire). In addition to Ukrainians, there were many Russians, Poles, Georgians, and
Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary
is an umbrella term for different Turki ...
. The city was intended as a showcase for Russian imperialism in Asia and the American scholar Simon Karlinsky, who was born in Harbin in 1924 into a Russian family, wrote that in Harbin "the buildings, boulevards, and parks were planned—well before the October Revolution—by distinguished Russian architects and also by Swiss and Italian town planners", giving the city a very European appearance. Starting in the late 19th century, a mass influx of Han Chinese arrived in Manchuria, and taking advantage of the rich soils, founded farms that soon turned Manchuria into the "breadbasket of China" while others went to work in the mines and factories of Manchuria, which become one of the first regions of China to industrialize. Harbin became one of the main points through which food and industrial products were shipped out of Manchuria. A sign of Harbin's wealth was that a theater had established during its first decade and in 1907 the play ''
K zvezdam K, or k, is the eleventh letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''kay'' (pronounced ), plural ''kays''. The letter K u ...
'' by Leonid Andreyev had its premiere there. During the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
(1904–05), Russia used Harbin as its base for military operations in Manchuria. Following Russia's defeat, its influence declined. Several thousand nationals from 33 countries, including the United States, Germany, and France, moved to Harbin. Sixteen countries established consulates to serve their nationals, who established several hundred industrial, commercial and banking companies. Churches were rebuilt for Russian Orthodox, Lutheran/German Protestant, and Polish Catholic Christians. Chinese capitalists also established businesses, especially in brewing, food, and textiles. Harbin became the economic hub of northeastern China and an international metropolis. The rapid growth of the city challenged the public healthcare system. The worst-ever recorded outbreak of pneumonic plague was spread to Harbin through the Trans-Manchurian railway from the border trade port of Manzhouli. The plague lasted from late autumn of 1910 to spring 1911 and killed 1,500 Harbin residents (mostly ethnic Chinese), or about five percent of its population at the time. This turned out to be the beginning of the large so-called Manchurian plague pandemic, which ultimately claimed 60,000 victims. In the winter of 1910, Dr. Wu Lien-teh (later the founder of
Harbin Medical University Harbin Medical University (HMU) () is a public university located in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. HMU is appointed as a national education and training base for biomedical scientists and teaching talents by the National Bureau of Advanced Healt ...
) was given instructions from the Foreign Office, Peking, to travel to Harbin to investigate the plague. Dr. Wu asked for imperial sanction to cremate plague victims, as cremation of these infected victims turned out to be the turning point of the epidemic. The suppression of this plague pandemic changed medical progress in China. Bronze statues of Dr. Wu Lien-teh are built in
Harbin Medical University Harbin Medical University (HMU) () is a public university located in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. HMU is appointed as a national education and training base for biomedical scientists and teaching talents by the National Bureau of Advanced Healt ...
to remember his contributions in promoting public health, preventive medicine, and medical education. The first generation of Harbin Russians were mostly the builders and employees of the Chinese Eastern Railway. They moved to Harbin in order to work on the railroad. At the time Harbin was not an established city. The city was almost built from scratch by the builders and early settlers. Houses were constructed, furniture and personal items were brought in from Russia. After the Manchurian plague epidemic, Harbin's population continued to increase sharply, especially inside the Chinese Eastern Railway Zone. In 1913 the Chinese Eastern Railway census showed its ethnic composition as:
Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...
 – 34,313, Chinese (that is, including
Hans Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjab ...
, Manchus etc.) – 23,537, Jews – 5,032,
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...
 – 2556, Japanese – 696,
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
 – 564,
Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary
is an umbrella term for different Turki ...
 – 234,
Latvians Latvians ( lv, latvieši) are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common L ...
 – 218, Georgians – 183,
Estonians Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language. The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to othe ...
 – 172, Lithuanians – 142,
Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
 – 124; there were also Karaims,
Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
, Bashkirs, and some Western Europeans. In total, 68,549 citizens of 53 nationalities, speaking 45 languages. Research shows that only 11.5 percent of all residents were born in Harbin. By 1917, Harbin's population exceeded 100,000, with over 40,000 of them being ethnic Russians. After Russia's
Great October Socialist Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
in November 1917, more than 100,000 defeated Russian White Guards and refugees retreated to Harbin, which became a major center of White Russian émigrés and the largest Russian enclave outside the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. Karlinsky noted that a major difference with the Russian émigrés who arrived in Harbin was: "Unlike the Russian émigrés who went to Paris or Prague or even to Shanghai, the new residents of Harbin were not a minority surrounded by a foreign population. They found themselves instead in an almost totally Russian city, populated mainly by people with roots in the south of European Russia." The city had a Russian school system, as well as publishers of Russian-language newspapers and journals. The Russian ''Harbintsy'' community numbered around 120,000 at its peak in the early 1920s. Many of Harbin's Russians were wealthy, which sometimes confused foreign visitors who expected them to be poor, with for instance the American writer Harry A. Franck in his 1923 book ''Wanderings in North China'' writing the Russian "ladies as well gowned as at the Paris races hostrolled with men faultlessly garbed by European standards", leading him to wonder how they had achieved this "deceptive appearance". The Harbin Institute of Technology was established in 1920 as the Harbin Sino-Russian School for Industry to educate railway engineers via a Russian method of instruction. Students could select from two majors at the time: Railway Construction or Electric Mechanic Engineering. On 2 April 1922, the school was renamed the Sino-Russian Industrial University. The original two majors eventually developed into two major departments: the Railway Construction Department and the Electric Engineering Department. Between 1925 and 1928 the university's Rector was
Leonid Ustrugov Leonid Aleksandrovich Ustrugov (russian: Леонид Александрович Устругов; November 23, 1877, Moscow – February 15, 1938, Moscow) was a Russian railway engineer who served as the Minister of Railways in the White governm ...
, the Russian Deputy Minister of Railways under Nicholas II before the Russian Revolution, Minister of Railways under Admiral Kolchak's government and a key figure in the development of the Chinese Eastern Railway. The Russian community in Harbin made it their mission to preserve the pre-revolutionary culture of Russia. The city had numerous Russian language newspapers, journals, libraries, theaters, and two opera companies. One of the famous Russian poets in Harbin was Valery Pereleshin, who started publishing his intensely
homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homo ...
poetry in 1937 and was also one of the few Russian writers in Harbin who learned Mandarin. The subject of Pereleshin's poetry caused problems with the Russian Fascist Party, and led Pereleshin to leave Harbin for Shanghai, and ultimately to the United States. Not all of the Russian newspapers were of high quality, with Karlinsky calling '' Nash put''', the newspaper of the Russian Fascist Party "the lowest example of gutter journalism that Harbin had ever seen". Nikolai Baikov, a Russian writer in Harbin was known for his novels of exile life in that city together with his accounts of his travels across Manchuria and the folklore of its Manchu and Chinese population. Boris Yulsky, a young Russian writer who published his short stories in the newspaper '' Rubezh'' was considered to be a promising writer whose career was cut short when he gave up literature for activism in the Russian Fascist Party and cocaine addiction. Moya-tvoya (mine – yours), a pidgin language that was a combination of Russian and
Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...
that had developed in the 19th century when Chinese went to work in Siberia, was considered essential by the Chinese businesspeople of Harbin. In the early 1920s, according to Chinese scholars' recent studies, over 20,000 Jews lived in Harbin. After 1919, Dr.
Abraham Kaufman Dr. Abraham Josevich Kaufman (Абрам Иосифович Кауфман, b. November 22, 1885 – d. March 25, 1971) was a Russian-born medical doctor, community organizer and Zionist who helped protect some tens of thousands of Jews seeking saf ...
played a leading role in Harbin's large Russian Jewish community. The Republic of China discontinued diplomatic relations with the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
in 1920, leaving many Russians stateless. When the Chinese Eastern Railway and government in Beijing announced in 1924 that they agreed the railroad would only employ Russian or Chinese nationals, the emigres were forced to announce their ethnic and political allegiance. Most accepted Soviet citizenship. The Chinese warlord Zhang Xueliang, the "Young Marshal" seized the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1929. The Soviet military force quickly put an end to the crisis and forced the Nationalist Chinese to accept the restoration of joint Soviet-Chinese administration of the railway.


Japanese invasion period

Japan invaded
Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...
outright after the Mukden Incident in September 1931. After the Japanese captured Qiqihar in the Jiangqiao Campaign, the Japanese 4th Mixed Brigade moved toward Harbin, closing in from the west and south. Bombing and strafing by Japanese aircraft forced the Chinese army to retreat from Harbin. Within a few hours, the Japanese occupation of Harbin was complete. With the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, the so-called " pacification of Manchukuo" began, as volunteer armies continued to fight the Japanese. Harbin became a major operations base for the infamous medical experimenters of Unit 731, who killed people of all ages and ethnicities. All these units were known collectively as the ''Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army''. The main facility of the Unit 731 was built in 1935 at
Pingfang District Pingfang District () is one of nine districts of the prefecture-level city of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China, forming part of the city's urban core. The least spacious of Harbin's county-level divisions, it borde ...
, approximately south of Harbin urban area at that time. Between 3,000 and 12,000 citizens including men, women, and childrenDavid C. Rapoport. "Terrorism and Weapons of the Apocalypse". In James M. Ludes, Henry Sokolski (eds.), ''Twenty-First Century Weapons Proliferation: Are We Ready?'' Routledge, 2001. pp. 19, 29.—from which around 600 every year were provided by the '' Kempeitai''—died during the human experimentation conducted by Unit 731 at the camp based in Pingfang alone, which does not include victims from other medical experimentation sites. Almost 70 percent of the victims who died in the Pingfang camp were Chinese, including both civilian and military. Close to 30 percent of the victims were Russian. The Russian Fascist Party had the task of capturing "unreliable" Russians living in Harbin to hand over to Unit 731 to serve as the unwilling subjects of the gruesome experiments. Some others were South East Asians and Pacific Islanders from then-colonies of the
Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...
, and a small number of the
prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...
from the Allies of World War II (although many more Allied POWs were victims of Unit 731 at other sites). Prisoners of war were subjected to
vivisection Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for experiment ...
without anesthesia, after being infected with various diseases. Prisoners were injected with inoculations of disease, disguised as vaccinations, to study their effects. Unit 731 and its affiliated units (Unit 1644 and Unit 100 among others) were involved in research, development, and experimental deployment of epidemic-creating biowarfare weapons in assaults against the Chinese populace (both civilian and military) throughout World War II. Human targets were also used to test grenades positioned at various distances and in different positions. Flame throwers were tested on humans. Humans were tied to stakes and used as targets to test germ-releasing bombs, chemical weapons, and explosive bombs. Twelve Unit 731 members were found guilty in the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials but later repatriated; others received secret immunity by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...
before the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal in exchange for biological warfare work in the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
for the American Force.Hal Gold, ''Unit 731 Testimony'', 2003, p. 109. Chinese revolutionaries including
Zhao Shangzhi Zhao Shangzhi (; 1908–1942) was a Chinese military commander. Born in Chaoyang, Liaoning, he participated in the May Thirtieth Movement in 1925, and joined the Communist Party of China in the same year. In November 1925, he went to study in th ...
,
Yang Jingyu Yang Jingyu (; February 13, 1905 – February 23, 1940), born Ma Shangde (, in Queshan, Henan (today's suburb of Zhumadian City) into a local farmer's family, was a Chinese Communist, commander-in-chief and political commissar of the Firs ...
,
Li Zhaolin Li Zhaolin 李兆麟 (1910-1946), known earlier as Li Chaolan 李超兰, was the founder and leader of the 3rd Route Army, a division of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War. Li was born in Liaoyang county, Liao ...
, Zhao Yiman continued to struggle against the Japanese in Harbin and its administrative area, commanding the main anti-Japanese guerrilla army- Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army—which was originally organized by the Manchurian branch of the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
(CCP). The army was supported by the Comintern after the CCP Manchurian Provincial Committee was dissolved in 1936. Under the Manchukuo régime and Japanese occupation, Harbin Russians had a difficult time. In 1935, the Soviet Union sold the Chinese Eastern Railway (KVZhD) to the Japanese, and many Russian emigres left Harbin (48,133 of them were arrested during the Soviet
Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...
between 1936 and 1938 as "Japanese spies"). Most departing Russians returned to the Soviet Union, but a substantial number moved south to Shanghai or emigrated to the United States and Australia. By the end of the 1930s, the Russian population of Harbin had dropped to around 30,000. Many of Harbin's Jews (13,000 in 1929) fled after the Japanese occupation as the Japanese associated closely with militant anti-Soviet Russian Fascists, whose ideology of anti-Bolshevism and nationalism was laced with virulent anti-Semitism.Stephan, John J. 1978. The Russian Fascists: Tragedy and Farce in Exile 192545. London: Hamish Hamilton. The Kwantung Army-sponsored and financed the Russian Fascist Party, which after 1932 started to play an over-sized role in the Harbin's Russian community as its thugs began to harass and sometimes kill those opposed to it. Most Jews left for
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
,
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
, and the British Mandate of Palestine. In the late 1930s, some German Jews fleeing the Nazis moved to Harbin. Japanese officials later facilitated Jewish emigration to several cities in western Japan, notably Kobe, which came to have Japan's largest synagogue.


After World War II

The
Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...
took the city on 20 August 1945LTC David M. Glantz
"August Storm: The Soviet 1945 Strategic Offensive in Manchuria"
. Leavenworth Papers No. 7, Combat Studies Institute, February 1983,
Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perma ...
Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...
.
and Harbin never came under the control of the Nationalist Government, whose troops stopped short of the city. The city's administration was transferred by the departing Soviet Army to the Chinese
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the China, People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five Military branch, service branches: the People's ...
in April 1946. On 28 April 1946, the communist government of Harbin was established, making the 700,000-citizen-city the first large city governed by the communists. During the short occupation of Harbin by the Soviet Army (August 1945 to April 1946), thousands of Russian emigres who had been identified as members of the Russian Fascist Party and fled communism after the Russian October Revolution, were forcibly deported to the Soviet Union. After 1952 the Soviet Union launched a second wave of immigration back to Russia. By 1964, the Russian population in Harbin had been reduced to 450.Hal Gold, Clausen, Søren and Stig Thøgersen (eds). 1995. The Making of a Chinese City:History and Historiography in Harbin. New York: M. E. Sharpe. The rest of the European community (Russians, Germans, Poles, Greeks, etc.) emigrated during from 1950 to 1954 to Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, and the US, or were repatriated to their home countries. By 1988 the original Russian community numbered just thirty, all of them elderly. Modern Russians living in Harbin mostly moved there in the 1990s and 2000s, and have no relation to the first wave of emigration. Harbin was one of the key construction cities of China during the First Five-Year Plan period from 1951 to 1956. 13 of the 156 key construction projects were aid-constructed by the Soviet Union in Harbin. This project made Harbin an important industrial base of China. During the
Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward (Second Five Year Plan) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1958 to 1962. CCP Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to reconstr ...
from 1958 to 1961, Harbin experienced a very tortuous development course as several Sino-Soviet contracts were cancelled by the Soviet Union. During the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
many foreign and Christian things were uprooted. On 23 August 1966, Red Guards stormed into St. Nicholas Cathedral, burned its icons on the streets while chanting xenophobic slogans before destroying the church. As the normal economic and social order was seriously disrupted, Harbin's economy also suffered from serious setbacks. One of the main reasons of this setback is with its Soviet ties deteriorating and the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
escalating, China became concerned of a possible nuclear attack.
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...
ordered an evacuation of military and other key state enterprises away from the northeastern frontier, with Harbin being the core zone of this region, bordering the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. During this Third Front Development Era of China, several major factories of Harbin were relocated to Southwestern Provinces including
Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibe ...
,
Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...
,
Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangx ...
and
Guizhou Guizhou (; Postal romanization, formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in the Southwest China, southwest region of the China, People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the pr ...
, where they would be strategically secure in the event of a possible war. Some major universities of China were also moved out of Harbin, including Harbin Military Academy of Engineering (predecessor of Changsha's
National University of Defense Technology The National University of Defense Technology (NUDT; ) is a national public research university in Changsha, Hunan, China. Founded in 1953 as the People's Liberation Army Military Academy of Engineering, the institution is directly affilia ...
) and Harbin Institute of Technology (Moved to Chongqing in 1969 and relocated to Harbin in 1973). National economy and social service have obtained significant achievements since the Chinese economic reform first introduced in 1979. Harbin holds the China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair each year since 1990. Harbin once housed one of the largest Jewish communities in the Far East before World War II. It reached its peak in the mid-1920s when 25,000 European Jews lived in the city. Among them were the parents of
Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...
, the former
Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exe ...
. In 2004, Olmert came to Harbin with an Israeli trade delegation to visit the grave of his grandfather in Huang Shan Jewish Cemetery, which had over 500 Jewish graves identified. On 5 October 1984, Harbin was designated a
sub-provincial city A sub-provincial division () in China is a prefecture-level city governed by a province promoted by half a level. Thus, it is half a level under the provincial level (hence the name sub-provincial) but half a level above the prefecture-level. ...
by the Organization Department of the CCP Central Committee. The eight counties of Harbin originally formed part of Songhuajiang Prefecture whose seat was practically located inside the urban area of Harbin since 1972. The prefecture was officially merged into Harbin city on 11 August 1996, increasing Harbin's total population to 9.47 million. Harbin hosted the third Asian Winter Games in 1996. In 2009, Harbin held the XXIV Winter Universiade. A memorial hall honoring Korean
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
and independence activist
Ahn Jung-geun Ahn Jung-geun, sometimes spelled Ahn Joong-keun (; 2 September 1879 – 26 March 1910; baptismal name: Thomas Ahn ), was a Korean-independence activist, nationalist, and pan-Asianist. He is famous for assassination of Itō Hirobumi, the first ...
was unveiled at Harbin Railway Station on 19 January 2014. Ahn assassinated four-time
Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of S ...
and former Resident-General of Korea
Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the '' genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated sa ...
at No.1 platform of Harbin Railway Station on 26 October 1909, as Korea on the verge of annexation by Japan after the signing of the Eulsa Treaty. South Korean President
Park Geun-Hye Park Geun-hye (; ; often in English ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 to 2017, until she was impeached and convicted on related corruption charges. Park was the fi ...
raised an idea of erecting a monument for Ahn while meeting with Chinese Communist Party general secretary
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
during a visit to China in June 2013. After that China began to build a memorial hall honoring Ahn at Harbin Railway Station. As the hall was unveiled on 19 January 2014, the Japanese side soon lodged protest with China over the construction of Ahn's memorial hall.


Geography

Harbin, with a total land area of , is located in southern Heilongjiang province and is the provincial capital. The prefecture is also located at the southeastern edge of the
Songnen Plain The Songnen Plain () in Northeast China is named after the Songhua and Nenjiang Rivers and is connected to the Sanjiang Plain through the Songhua River The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, russian: Сунгари ''Sungari'' ...
, a major part of China's Northeastern Plain. The city center also sits on the southern bank of the middle
Songhua River The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, russian: Сунгари ''Sungari'') is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur. It flows about from the Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea bo ...
. Harbin received its nickname ''The pearl on the swan's neck'', since the shape of Heilongjiang resembles a swan. Its administrative area is rather large with latitude spanning 44° 04′−46° 40′ N, and longitude 125° 42′−130° 10' E. Neighbouring prefecture-level cities are Yichun to the north, Jiamusi and
Qitaihe Qitaihe () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Heilongjiang province, China. Covering an area , it is geographically the smallest prefecture-level division of the province. Qitaihe also has the second smallest population of the cities in Heil ...
to the northeast, Mudanjiang to the southeast, Daqing to the west, and Suihua to the northwest. On its southwestern boundary is
Jilin Jilin (; Postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three Provinces of China, provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, R ...
province. The main terrain of the city is generally flat and low lying, with an average elevation of around . The territory that comprises the 10 county-level divisions in the eastern part of the municipality consists of mountains and uplands. The easternmost part of Harbin prefecture also has extensive wetlands, mainly in Yilan County, which is located at the southwestern edge of the
Sanjiang Plain The Sanjiang Plain includes the Amur River (also known as the Heilong, or literally, "Black Dragon" or River), Songhua and Ussuri (also known as the Wusuli) rivers and covers 23 counties in Heilongjiang Province, China encompassing about 109,000&nb ...
.


Climate

Under the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
, Harbin features a
monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
-influenced,
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...
('' Dwa''). Due to the Siberian high and its location above 45 degrees north latitude, the city is known for its cold weather and long winter. Its nickname ''Ice City'' is well-earned, as winters in the city are dry and freezing cold, with a 24-hour average in January of only , although the city sees little precipitation during the winter and is often sunny. Spring and autumn constitute brief transition periods with variable wind directions. Summers can be hot, with a July mean temperature of . Summer is also when most of the year's rainfall occurs, and more than half of the annual precipitation, at , occurs in July and August alone. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 52 percent in December to 63 percent in March, the city receives 2,571 hours of bright sunshine annually; on average precipitation falls 104 days out of the year. The annual mean temperature is , and extreme temperatures have ranged from to .


Administrative divisions

The sub-provincial city of Harbin has direct jurisdiction over 9 districts, 2
county-level cities A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...
and 7 counties.


Economy

Harbin has the largest economy in Heilongjiang province. In 2013, Harbin's GDP totaled RMB501.08 billion, an increase of 8.9 percent over the previous year. The proportion of the three industries to the aggregate of GDP was 11.1:36.1:52.8 in 2012. The total value for imports and exports by the end of 2012 was US$5,330 million. In 2012, the working population reached 3.147 million. In 2015, Harbin had a GDP of RMB 575.12 billion. The chernozem soil in Harbin, called " black earth" is one of the most nutrient rich in all of China, making it valuable for cultivating food and textile-related crops. As a result, Harbin is China's base for the production of commodity grain and an ideal location for setting up agricultural businesses. Harbin also has industries such as light industry, textile, medicine, food, aircraft, automobile, metallurgy, electronics, building materials, and chemicals that help to form a fairly comprehensive industrial system. Several major corporations are based in the city. Harbin Electric Company Limited, Harbin Aircraft Industry Group and Northeast Light Alloy Processing Factory are some of key enterprises. Power manufacturing is a main industry in Harbin; hydro and thermal power equipment manufactured here makes up one-third of the total installed capacity in China. According to Platts, in 2009-10 Harbin Electric was the second largest manufacturer of steam turbines by worldwide market share, tying Dongfang Electric and slightly behind Shanghai Electric. Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, which mainly focus on research, development, manufacture and sale of medical products, is China's second-biggest
pharmaceutical company The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate sympt ...
by market value. Harbin International Trade and Economic Fair has been held annually since 1990. This investment and trade fair cumulatively attracting more than 1.9 million exhibitors and visitors from more than 80 countries and regions to attend, resulting over US$100 billion contract volume concluded according to the statistics of 2013. Harbin is among major destinations of FDI in Northeast China, with utilized FDI totaling US$980 million in 2013. After the 18th regular meeting between Sino-Russian Prime Ministers between
Li Keqiang Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affa ...
and Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev in October 2013, two sides come to make an agreement that the Harbin International Trade and Economic Fair will be renamed "China-Russia EXPO" and be co-sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Heilongjiang Provincial government, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Russia's Ministry of Trade and Industry. In the financial sector, Longjiang Bank and
Harbin Bank Harbin Bank Co., Ltd. is a Chinese urban commercial bank, city-based commercial bank (), with its headquarters in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. It was established in 1997 as Harbin City Commercial Bank, opened its branches in Harbin City only, ...
are some of the largest banks in Northeast China, with headquarters in Harbin. The latter ranks fourth by competitiveness among Chinese city commercial banks in 2011. In commerce, there is
Qiulin Group Churin & Co. ( elisted is the largest department store in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, China. Established in 1867, the company has a history of over 150 years. The company invented Hongchang sausages in 1909, a staple in the ...
, which owns Harbin's largest
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appe ...
.


Economic development zones and ports

* Harbin Economic & Technology Development Zone (National), mainly focus on telecommunications equipment, chemicals production and processing, automobile production/assembly, electronics, textiles, medical equipment and supplies. * Harbin High and New Technological Development Zone, focus on optical-mechanical-electrical integration, biology, medicine, electronics and information technology. * Harbin Pingfang Automobile Industrial Zone (Provincial), mainly focus on automobile production/assembly, electronics assembly & manufacturing, heavy industry, instruments & industrial equipment production. * Harbin Limin Economic Development Zone (Provincial), mainly focus on trading and distribution, food/beverage processing, medical equipment and supplies, shipping/warehousing/logistics. * Harbin Port ;Harbin Songbei Economic Development Zone Songbei Economic Development Zone is located in
Songbei District Songbei District () is one of nine districts of the prefecture-level city of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China, forming part of the city's urban core. Its name literally means "north of Song", referring to its position ...
of Harbin. The zone has a planned area of 5.53 square kilometers. Electronics assembly & manufacturing, food and beverage processing are the encouraged industries in the zone. Many regional and provincial headquarters of large enterprises such as the
China Datang Corporation China Datang Corporation (CDT) is one of the five large-scale power generation enterprises in China, established on the basis of former State Power Corporation of China in 2002. It is a solely state-owned enterprise directly managed by the S ...
, China Netcom and China Telecom have joined in this district, preliminary constituting the economy concentration zone of the local headquarters. Regional Scientific research centers including Harbin Science and Technology Innovation Center and Harbin International Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Center are also located in this development zone. Profit from these major research institutes, Harbin ranked ninth among 50 major Chinese cities in scientific and technological innovation ability in scientific and technological competitiveness ranking in 2006, as well as ranking sixth among Chinese cities in the amount of scientific and technological achievements. ;Harbin Economic and Technological Development Zone Harbin Economic and Technological Development Zone (HETDZ) is one of the 90 national economical development zones of China. It was set up in June 1991, and was approved by the State Council as a national development zone in April 1993. In December 2012, Harbin High Technology Development Zone was merged into HETDZ. In 2009, the hi-tech zone was separated from HETDZ again. The area now has a total area of 18.5 square-kilometers in the centralized parks, subdivided into Nangang and Haping Road Centralized Parks. The 12.2 square-kilometers Yingbin Road Hi-tech Centralized Park, which was formerly part of HETDZ, is currently under the administration of Harbin High and New Technology Industry Development Zone since 2009. * Nangang Centralized Park: Designated for the incubation of high-tech projects and research and development base of enterprises as well as tertiary industries such as finance, insurance, services, catering, tourism, culture, recreation and entertainment, where the headquarters of large famous companies and their branches in Harbin are located. * Yingbin Road Centralized Park: mainly focus on high-tech incubation projects, high-tech industrial development. * Haping Road Centralized Park: Designated for a comprehensive industrial basis for the investment projects of automobile and automobile parts manufacturing, medicines, foodstuffs, electronics, textile; Automobile production and assembly raw material processing are the encouraged industries in this region. ;Harbin High and New Technology Industry Development Zone Harbin High and New Technology Industry Development Zone is one of the 56 national High and New Technology Industry Development Zones of China. The zone was first set up as a provincial level development zone in 1988, and was approved by the State Council as a national development zone in 1991 respectively. It has 23.9 square-kilometers of built-area totally, and subdivided into two parts: Science and Technology Innovation Town and High-tech Industrial Development Zone.


Demographics


Population

The 2010 census revealed total population in Harbin was 10,635,971, representing a 12.99 percent increase over the previous decade. The built-up area, made up of all urban districts but Acheng and Shuangcheng not urbanized yet, had a population of 5,282,083 people. The encompassing
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...
was estimated by the
OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) to have, , a population of 10.5 million.Linked from the OEC
here
The demographic profile for the Harbin metropolitan area in general is relatively old: 10.95 percent are under the age of 14, while 8.04 percent are over 65, compared to the national average of 16.6% and 8.87 percent, respectively. Harbin has a higher percentage of males (50.85 percent) than females (49.15 percent). Harbin currently has a lower
birth rate The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
than other parts of China, with 6.95 births per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to the Chinese average of 12.13 births.


Ethnic groups

Most of Harbin's residents belong to the
Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive v ...
majority (93.45 percent). Ethnic minorities include the Manchu, Hui, and
Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
. In 2000, 616,749 residents belonged to minority ethnicities, among which the vast majority (433,340) were Manchu, contributing 70.26 percent to the minority population. The second and third largest minority groups were
Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply r ...
(119,883) and Hui nationalities (39,995).


Religion

The Catholic minority is pastorally served by its own
Latin rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language onc ...
Apostolic Administration of Harbin, a missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction. It also has the Eastern Catholic former cathedral of the
Russian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Harbin The Russian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Harbin (or Harbin 哈爾濱 of the Russians) is a dormant apostolic exarchate of the Russian Byzantine Catholic Church based in the city of Harbin in China. The cathedra of the apostolic exarchate was ...
(pre-diocesan, Byzantine Rite in Russian language). The badly damaged Church of the Iver Icon of the Mother of God was previously used by Russian soldiers of the Outer Amur Military Region, then garrisoned in Harbin. A small percentage of the city's population consists of Muslims.
Daowai Mosque The Daowai Mosque or Harbin Mosque () is a mosque in Daowai District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest mosque in Heilongjiang. History The mosque was originally built during the Guangxu Emperor of Qing Dynasty in 1897. Buil ...
is located in Harbin and is the largest mosque in Heilongjiang province. Harbin had a small Jewish community centered on Zhongyang Main Street, which was home to many European Jewish refugees.


Culture

The Harbin local culture is based on
Han culture The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
, combined with Manchu culture and Russian culture. This combination of cultures influences the local architecture style, food, music, and customs. The city of Harbin was appointed a UNESCO City of Music on 22 June 2010 as part of the Creative Cities Network.


Cuisine

Harbin is renowned for its culinary tradition. The cuisine of Harbin consists of European dishes and Northern Chinese dishes mainly typified by heavy sauce and deep-frying. One of the most famous dishes in Northeastern Chinese cuisine is Guo Bao Rou, a form of sweet and sour pork. It is a classic dish from Harbin that originated in the early 20th century in Daotai Fu (). It consists of a bite-sized pieces of pork in a
potato starch Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain leucoplasts (starch grains). To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, and the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells. ...
batter, deep-fried until crispy. They are then lightly coated in a variation of a sweet and sour sauce, made from freshly prepared syrup, rice vinegar, sugar, flavoured with ginger, cilantro, sliced carrot and garlic. The Harbin Guobaorou is distinct from that of other areas of China, such as Liaoning, where the sauce may be made using either tomato ketchup or orange juice. Rather the Harbin style is dominated by the honey and ginger flavours and has a clear or honey yellow colour. Originally the taste was fresh and salty. In order to fete foreign guests, Zheng Xingwen, the chef of Daotai Fu, altered the dish into a sweet and sour taste. Usually, people prefer to go to several small or middle size restaurants to enjoy this dish, because it is difficult to handle the frying process at home. Demoli Stewed Live Fish is one among other notable dishes in Harbin, which is originated in a village named Demoli on the expressway from Harbin to Jiamusi. The village is now Demoli Service Area on Harbin-Tongjiang Expressway. Stewed Chicken with Mushrooms, Braised Pork with Vermicelli, and quick-boil pork with Chinese sauerkraut are also typical authentic local dishes. Since Russia had a strong influence on Harbin's history, the local cuisine of Harbin also contains Russian-style dishes and flavor. There are several authentic Russian-style restaurants in Harbin, especially alongside the Zhongyang Street. A popular regional specialty is Harbin-style smoked savory red sausage. This product, which is similar to mild Lithuanian and German sausages, tend to be much more of European flavours than other Chinese sausages. In 1900, Russian merchant Ivan Yakovlevich Churin founded a branch in Harbin, which was named Churin Foreign trading company (; russian: Цюлинь Янхан, links=no) selling imported clothes, leather boots, canned foods, vodka, etc., and began to expand sales network in other cities in Manchuria. The influx of Europeans through the Trans-Siberian Railway and Chinese Eastern Railway, increased demand of European flavor food. In 1909, Churin's Sausage Factory was founded, and first produced European flavor sausage with the manufacturing process of Lithuanian staff. Since then European style sausage become a specialty of the city. A Russian style large round bread 大列巴 dà liě ba, derived from the Russian word ' for "bread" is also produced in Harbin's bakeries. Dalieba is a miche like sourdough bread. First introduced to the locals by a Russian baker, it has been sold in bakeries in Harbin for over a hundred years. Dalieba's sour and chewy taste is different from other traditional soft and fluffy Asian style breads in other parts of China. Kvass, a Russia-originated fermented beverage made from
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
or regular
rye bread Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat ...
, is also popular in Harbin. Madier ("", derived from "Modern") ice-cream provided in the Zhongyang Street is also well known in northern China. This ice cream is made from a specific traditional recipe and it tastes a little salty but more sweet and milky. Besides its headquarters in Harbin, it also has branches in other major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, etc.
Manchu cuisine Manchu cuisine or Manchurian cuisine is the cuisine of Manchuria, the historical name for a region which now covers mostly Northeast China and Outer Manchuria. It uses the traditional Manchu staple foods of millet, soybean, peas, corn and broom ...
has mostly disappeared from Harbin.


Tourism

Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, is situated in the northeast of the Northeast China Plain. It is a Famous Historical and Cultural City with an infusion of foreign culture. It is also popular as a city universally prestigious for its snow and ice culture. Summer and winter are the best occasions to visit Harbin as it is a cool resort in the short lovely summer and a fascinating ice kingdom in the harsh cold and long winter. Harbin is known for its European-style structures, for example, the popular Saint Sophia Cathedral, the design on Central Street, and the Baroque compositional complex in Lao Daowai (Old Town). Harbin in winter shows a large number of ice figures and offers many ice and snow activities for sightseers. Along with facilitating the world's greatest Ice and Snow Festival, Harbin flaunts the world's biggest indoor ski park, which is inside the Wanda Harbin Mall (counting six ski slants up to 500 meters in length).


Winter culture

Located in northern Northeast China, Harbin is the northernmost among major cities in China. Under the direct influence of the
Siberian Anticyclone The Siberian High (also Siberian Anticyclone; russian: Азиатский антициклон (''Aziatsky antitsiklon'')) is a massive collection of cold dry air that accumulates in the northeastern part of Eurasia from September until April. I ...
, the average daily temperature is in winter. Annual low temperatures below are not uncommon. Nicknamed "Ice City" due to its freezingly cold winter, Harbin is decorated by various styles of Ice and snow Sculptures from December to March every year. The annual
Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival The Harbin International Ice and Snow festival () is an annual winter festival that takes place with a theme in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, and now is the largest ice and snow festival in the world. At first participants in the festival were ...
has been held since 1985. Although the official start date is 5 January each year, in practice, many of the sculptures can be seen before. While there are ice sculptures throughout the city, there are two main exhibition areas: enormous snow sculptures at Sun Island (Taiyang Dao, a AAAAA-rated recreational area on the opposite side of the Songhua River from the city) and the separate "Ice and Snow World" that operates each night with lights switched on, illuminating the sculptures from both inside and outside. Ice and Snow World features illuminated full-size buildings made from blocks of 2–3 feet thick crystal clear ice directly taken from the Songhua River, which passes through the city. The sculptures inside the exhibition ground takes 15,000 workers to work for 16 days. In early December, ice artisans cut 120,000 cubic metres (4.2 million cubic feet) of ice blocks from Songhua river's frozen surface as raw materials for the ice sculptures' show. Massive ice buildings, large-scale snow sculptures, ice slides, festival food and drinks can also be found in several parks and major avenues in the city. Winter activities in the festival include Yabuli Alpine
Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...
, snow mobile driving, winter-swimming in
Songhua River The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, russian: Сунгари ''Sungari'') is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur. It flows about from the Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea bo ...
, and the traditional ice-lantern exhibition in Zhaolin Garden, which was first held in 1963. Snow carving and ice and snow recreations are famous nationwide, especially among Asian countries including Korea, Japan, Thailand and Singapore. The "Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival" is one of the four largest ice and snow festivals in the world, along with Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada's Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway's Holmenkollen Ski Festival. Every November, the city of Harbin sends teams of ice artisans to the United States to promote their unique art form. It takes more than 100 artisans to create ICE!, the annual display of indoor Christmas-themed ice carvings in National Harbor, Maryland; Nashville, Tennessee
Kissimmee, Florida
and Grapevine, Texas.


''The Music City''

Founded in 1908, the Harbin Symphony Orchestra was China's oldest symphony orchestra. Harbin No.1 Music School was also the first music school in China, which was founded in 1928. Nearly 100 famous musicians have studied at the school since its founding, said Liu Yantao, deputy chief of Harbin Cultural, Press and Publication Bureau. Every year, thousands of youngsters start their music dreams in this city, and the "Harbin Summer Music Concert" serial activities that always be held in the every year's summer present the music passion of the locals.
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
recognizes China's Harbin as "The Music City" as part of the Creative Cities Network in 2010.


Harbin Summer Music Concert

Harbin Summer Music Concert ('Concert' for short) is a national concert festival, which is held on 6 August every two years for a period of 10~11 days. During the concert, multiple evenings, concert, race and activities are held. The artists come from all over the world. The 'Harbin Summer Music Month', which was then renamed as 'Harbin Summer Music Concert', was held in August 1958. The first formal Concert was held on 5 August 1961 in Harbin Youth Palace, and kept on every year until 1966 when the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
started in China. In 1979, the Concert was recovered and from 1994, it has been held every two years. As a part of 2006 Harbin Summer Music Concert's opening ceremony, a 1,001-piano concert was held in Harbin's Flood memorial square located at the north end of Central Street () on 6 August 2006. Repertoires of the ensemble consisted of ''
Triumphal March A triumphal march is a musical form generally reflecting a triumph, victory or great joy. Many composers have written a triumphal march, with maybe the best known one being by Italian opera composer, Giuseppe Verdi for his 1871 grand opera, ''Aida ...
'', ''Military March'', '' Radetzky March'' and famous traditional local song ''On The Sun Island''. This concert set a new Guinness World Record for largest piano ensemble, surpassing the previous record held by German artists in a 600-piano concert. In 2008, the 29th Harbin Summer Music Concert was held on 6 August.


Media


Television and radio

* Heilongjiang Television (HLJTV) serves as the media outlets of this region, broadcasts on seven channels as well as a satellite channel for other provinces. * (HRBTV) serves as a municipal station, which has five channels for specialized programming. * Long Guang, ''Dragon Broadcast'', formerly Heilongjiang People's Broadcasting Station, the radio station group that serves the whole Heilongjiang region, providing seven channels including a Korean language broadcast station. * (HPBS), broadcasts music, news, traffic, economy and life in Harbin and adjacent areas including Daqing, Suihua and Fuyu.


Architecture

Harbin is notable for its combination of Chinese and European architecture styles. Many Russian and other European style buildings are protected by the government. The architecture in Harbin gives it the nicknames of "Oriental Moscow" and "Oriental Paris" in China.


Historical architecture

Central Street, one of the main business streets in Harbin, is a remnant of the bustling international business activities at the turn of the 20th century. First built in 1898, The long street is now a veritable museum of European architectural styles:
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
and
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
façades, little Russian bakeries and French fashion houses, as well as non European architectural styles: American eateries, and
Japanese restaurant Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese: ) is based on rice with miso soup and other ...
s. The Russian Orthodox church, Saint Sophia Cathedral, is also located in the central district of Daoli. Built in 1907 and expanded from 1923 to 1932, it was closed during the
Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward (Second Five Year Plan) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1958 to 1962. CCP Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to reconstr ...
and Cultural Revolution periods. Following its designation in 1996 as a national cultural heritage site (First class Preserved Building), it was turned into a museum as a showcase of the history of Harbin city in 1997.Yukiko Koga.
"The Atmosphere of a Foreign Country": Harbin's Architectural Inheritance
''. In: Anne M. Cronin, Kevin Hetherington. ''Consuming the Entrepreneurial City: Image, Memory, Spectacle''. Routledge, 2008. p. 229.
The -tall Church, which covers an area of 721 square meters, is a typical representative of Byzantine architecture. Many citizens believe that the Orthodox church damaged the local feng shui, so they donated money to build a Chinese Buddhist monastery in 1921, the Ji Le Temple. There were more than 15 Russian Orthodox churches and two cemeteries in Harbin until 1949. The Communist Revolution, and the subsequent
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
, and the decrease in the ethnic Russian population, saw many of them abandoned or destroyed. Today, about 10 churches remain, while services are held only in the
Church of the Intercession in Harbin The Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God in Harbin (in or in Russian: Церковь Покрова в Харбине) is an Eastern Orthodox church in Harbin, China. This church is located in the "church street", north east of "Hon ...
. The Harbin Railway Administration, formerly known as the Middle East Railway Administration, commonly known as the "big stone house", was built in 1902, destroyed twice and rebuilt in 1904 and 1906.


Modern architecture

Harbin Grand Theatre is located in the cultural center of
Songbei District Songbei District () is one of nine districts of the prefecture-level city of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China, forming part of the city's urban core. Its name literally means "north of Song", referring to its position ...
, Harbin. It provides 1600- and 400-seat venues. The architecture uses the external design of the heterogeneous hyperbolic surface. The Harbin Grand Theatre is a landmark building in Harbin. It is built in accordance with the water and is consistent with the surrounding environment. It embodies the concept of the landscape and landscape of the north. As a public building facility, the theatre provides people and visitors with different spatial experiences from the theatre, landscape, square and stereoscopic platform. During the design process, architect Ma Yansong has set up a unique sightseeing corridor and viewing platform in the Grand Theatre. Visitors are able to overlook the surrounding wetland and enjoy the unique natural wetland scenery of Harbin. After the completion of the Harbin Grand Theatre, the public can enjoy opera, symphony, ballet and drama performances in various function rooms.


Sports

As the center of winter sports in China, Harbin has hosted the
1996 Winter Asian Games The 3rd Asian Winter Games () were held from February 4 to 11, 1996 in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. North Korea's Samjiyon was the original host for the games scheduled in 1995, but withdrew in August 1992. After the withdrawal, South Korea and ...
and the
2009 Winter Universiade The 2009 Winter Universiade, the XXIV Winter Universiade took place in Harbin, China. Student athletes from 44 countries took part in the games. Selection Harbin was selected by FISU on January 10, 2005 over future 2011 Winter Universiade host c ...
. Along these events, many famous winter sports athletes come from Harbin. Olympic medalists include short track star Wang Meng (six-time medalist); long track skater Zhang Hong ( 2014 Sochi, gold medal); and pairs figure skaters Shen Xue and
Zhao Hongbo Zhao Hongbo (; born 22 September 1973) is a Chinese retired pair skater. With his wife Shen Xue, Zhao is the 2010 Olympic champion, the 2002 & 2006 Olympic bronze medalist, a three-time World champion (2002, 2003 & 2007), a three-time Four Co ...
( 2002 Salt Lake City, bronze medal; 2006 Turin, bronze medal; and 2010 Vancouver, gold medal),
Zhang Dan Zhang Dan (; born 4 October 1985) is a Chinese former pair skater. With Zhang Hao, she is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a four-time (2005 bronze, 2006, 2008, 2009 silver) World medalist, and a two-time (2005, 2010) Four Continents cham ...
and Zhang Hao ( 2006 Turin, silver medal), Pang Qing and Tong Jian ( 2010 Vancouver, silver medal), and
Sui Wenjing Sui Wenjing (; born 18 July 1995) is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Han Cong, she is the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time world champion (2017, 2019), a three-time world silver medalist (2015, 2016, 2 ...
and
Han Cong Han Cong (pronounced "Han Tsong") (; born 6 August 1992) is a Chinese pair skater. With partner Sui Wenjing, he is the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a two-time world champion (2017, 2019), a three-time world sil ...
( 2022 Beijing, gold medal; 2018 Pyeongchang, silver medal). Harbin has an indoor speed skating arena, the Heilongjiang Indoor Rink. Opened in 1995, it is the oldest one of seven in China. Mutual cooperation of the Far Eastern State Academy of Physical Culture and the Harbin Institute of Physical Education started an exchange of sports and cultural delegations, holding of sports, training of Chinese students in Khabarovsk, Russia and Harbin. Russian side started to have plans to introduce bandy to China while Harbin has good preconditions to become one of the strong points of this sport in China. The national team is based in Harbin, and it was confirmed in advance that they would play in the 2015 Bandy World Championship. The Chinese team came 16th in a field of 17 teams, edging out Somalia. Mr Zhu, president of the sport university, is a member of the Federation of International Bandy council. In December 2017, an international student tournament will be played. While Chinese bandy is still in its initial stages, it is expected that Harbin even more will become the driving force behind the domestic development, for example via opening the Federation of International Bandy office for development and promotion in Asia. Heilongjiang Ice City Football Club currently play their home soccer matches at Harbin International Conference Exhibition and Sports Center, a 50000-seater stadium. The team gained promotion to China's second tier for the 2018 season when they came first in the 2017 China League Two division.
KRS Heilongjiang Kunlun Red Star-BSU Beijing () is a Chinese professional ice hockey club based in Beijing, China who compete in the Supreme Hockey League (VHL). KRS-BSU Beijing is the affiliate of HC Kunlun Red Star, who are in the Kontinental Hockey League (KH ...
are a professional ice hockey team based in the city. A member of the Russian-based Supreme Hockey League and one of two Chinese teams in the league. The team is affiliated with the Kontinental Hockey League side, also based in China, HC Kunlun Red Star. An indoor ski resort opened in Harbin in 2017 and laid claim to be the world's largest of its kind. It will make it possible to enjoy down-hill skiing all year round.


Events

The
1996 Asian Winter Games The 3rd Asian Winter Games () were held from February 4 to 11, 1996 in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. North Korea's Samjiyon was the original host for the games scheduled in 1995, but withdrew in August 1992. After the withdrawal, South Korea and ...
were held in Harbin. While ice games were mainly held in Harbin city, the skiing events were held in Yabuli ski resort, Shangzhi City. In the frame of this campaign to assert its role on the world scene, Harbin hosted the
2009 Winter Universiade The 2009 Winter Universiade, the XXIV Winter Universiade took place in Harbin, China. Student athletes from 44 countries took part in the games. Selection Harbin was selected by FISU on January 10, 2005 over future 2011 Winter Universiade host c ...
. Local Government spent 3.6 billion yuan for this event, with 2.63 billion used in construction and renovation of its sport infrastructure for this Universiade. Harbin hosted the Asian Basketball Confederation Championship in 2003, in which
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
won the championship on their home court for the thirteenth time. Harbin bid to host the
2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy Greene Wayne G ...
, which was ultimately awarded to Vancouver, Canada. The second China-Russia University Winter Sports Carnival was inaugurated 12 December 2017. This marked the first international bandy in Harbin. The Russian participation came from in Khabarovsk among men and IrGTU in Irkutsk among women. Being the national centre of bandy, Harbin organised Division B of the 2018 Bandy World Championship and China improved its placing to 12th from a total field of 16 teams.


Transport


Railway

Located at the junction of "T-style" mainline system, Harbin is an important railway hub of the Northeast China Region. Harbin Railway Bureau is the first Railway Bureau established by People's Republic of China Government, of which the railway density is the highest in China. Five conventional rail lines radiate from Harbin to: Beijing (Jingha Line), Suifenhe (Binsui Line), Manzhouli (Binzhou Line), Beian (Binbei Line) and Lalin (Labin Line). In addition, Harbin has a
high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
line linking
Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...
, Northeast China's southernmost seaport. In 2009, construction began on the new
Harbin West Railway Station Harbinxi (West) railway station is a railway station on the Jingha Railway and the Harbin–Dalian section of the Beijing–Harbin High-Speed Railway. It is located in Harbin, in the Heilongjiang province of China. The station cost 7.01 bi ...
with 18 platforms, located on the southwestern part of the city. In December 2012, the station was opened, as China unveiled its first high-speed rail running through regions with extremely low winter temperatures. with scheduled runs from Harbin to Dalian. The weather-proof CRH380B bullet trains serving the line can accommodate temperatures from minus 40 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius above zero. China's most northerly high-speed railway, Harbin–Qiqihar Intercity Railway, opened for revenue service on 17 August 2015. The rail links three largest principal cities in Heilongjiang including Harbin, Daqing and Qiqihar. Harbin–Jiamusi and Harbin–Mudanjiang Intercity railways both opened for public service in 2018, connecting the provincial capital to major prefectural level cities Mudanjiang and Jiamusi. The city's main railway stations are the Harbin Railway Station, which was first built in 1899 and expanded in 1989. The main station is rebuilt in 2017, and now is still under construction; the Harbin East Railway Station, which opened in 1934; and the
Harbin West Railway Station Harbinxi (West) railway station is a railway station on the Jingha Railway and the Harbin–Dalian section of the Beijing–Harbin High-Speed Railway. It is located in Harbin, in the Heilongjiang province of China. The station cost 7.01 bi ...
, which was built into the city's high-speed railway station in 2012. Another main station, Harbin North Railway Station, opened for public service in 2015, along with new built Harbin-Qiqihar Passenger Railway. Direct passenger train service is available from Harbin Railway Station to large cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Jinan, Nanjing and many other major cities in China. Direct high-speed railway service began operation between Harbin West and Shanghai Hongqiao stations on 28 December 2013, and shorten the journey time to 12 hours. File:North Terminal of Harbin Railway Station 01.jpg, North terminal of Harbin Railway Station File:Harbin West Railway Station.jpg, Harbin West Railway Station File:Harbin East Railway Station.JPG, Harbin East Railway Station File:哈尔滨南站 - panoramio.jpg, Harbin South Railway Station. File:Nangang, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China - panoramio (8).jpg, A CRH High-Speed train enters Harbin West railway station


Road

As an important regional hub in Northeast China, Harbin has an advanced highway system. Major highways that pass through or terminate in Harbin include the Beijing–Harbin, Heihe–Dalian, Harbin–Tongjiang, Changchun–Harbin, and Manzhouli–Suifenhe highways. * G1 Beijing–Harbin Expressway *
G10 Suifenhe–Manzhouli Expressway The Suifenhe–Manzhouli Expressway (), designated as G10 and commonly referred to as the Suiman Expressway () is an expressway that connects the cities of Suifenhe, Heilongjiang, China, and Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia. When fully complete, it will ...
* G1001 Harbin Ring Expressway * G1011 Harbin–Tongjiang Expressway, a spur of G10 that extends west to Tongjiang, formerly part of China National Highway 010 * G1111 Hegang–Harbin Expressway, a spur of
G11 Hegang–Dalian Expressway The Hegang–Dalian Expressway (), designated as G11 and commonly referred to as the Heda Expressway () is an expressway that connects the cities of Hegang, Heilongjiang, China, and Dalian, Liaoning. When fully complete, it will be in length. T ...
* G1211 Jilin–Heihe Expressway, a spur of G12 Hunchun–Ulanhot Expressway that extends north to Heihe * China National Highway 102 * China National Highway 202 *
China National Highway 221 China National Highway 221 (G221) runs from Harbin to Tongjiang, in Heilongjiang Province. It is 668 kilometres in length and runs northeast from Harbin towards Tongjiang. Route and distance See also * China National Highways External linksOf ...
* China National Highway 222 *
China National Highway 301 China National Highway 301 (G301) runs from Suifenhe, Heilongjiang to Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia. It is 1,680 kilometres in length and runs northwest from Suifenhe towards Manzhouli. Route and distance See also * China National Highways * ...


Air

Harbin Taiping International Airport Harbin Taiping International Airport is the international airport serving Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. The airport handled 20,431,432 passengers in 2018, making it the 20th busiest airport in mainland China. History Harbin Taiping Airport ...
, which is away from the urban area of Harbin, is the second largest international airport in Northeast China. The technical level of flight district is 4E, which allows all kinds of large and medium civil aircraft. There are flights to over thirty large cities including
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
,
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
,
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
,
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...
,
Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
,
Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou �y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east o ...
,
Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong' ...
,
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...
,
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...
,
Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the provi ...
,
Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...
, Xi'an and Hong Kong. In addition there are also scheduled international flights between Harbin and Russia,
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, Malaysia and South Korea. In June 2015, The first LCC international air routes to Japan, specifically the city of
Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...
was to begin. Because of the freight capability limitation, construction of the T2 Terminal began on 31 October 2014. The 160,000-square-meter T2 Terminal was scheduled to be finished in 2017, and will increase the freight capacity of the airport to three times of the previous. Harbin is also working on T3 which would be shaped like a snow flake, signifying Harbin as an ice city famous for their annual International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival which places during the heavy winter season.


Metro

Construction of
Harbin Metro The Harbin Metro is the rapid transit system of Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China.́ The system began operation on 26 September 2013 with the opening of Line 1. The system has a total of three lines ...
started on 5 December 2006. The total investment for the first phase of Line 1 is RMB5.89 billion. Twenty stations were planned to be set on this long line starting from Harbin East Railway Station to the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University in the west of the city. A metro depot, a command centre and two transformer substations will be built along the line. Most of the line's route follows the air defence evacuation tunnel left from the "7381" Project, which started in 1973 and ended in 1979. The 7381 project was intended to protect Harbin from the former Soviet Union's possible invasion or nuclear attack. The Line 1 of Harbin Metro opened on 26 September 2013. It is oriented along the east–west axis of the
urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...
of Harbin: from north-east (Harbin East Railway Station) to south-west (2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University). Line 2 and Line 3 are under construction. Line 2 runs from Songbei District to Xiangfang District and ringlike Line 3 runs through Daoli, Daowai, Nangang and Xiangfang Districts of Harbin. On 26 January 2017, Phase I of Line 3 opened for public service. Line 3 links Harbin West Railway Station to Yidaeryuan Station, the transfer station between Line 1 and Line 3. In the long term, the city plans to build nine radiating metro lines and a circle line in downtown and some suburban districts, which account for by 2025. Picture References:
"7381" Project, a Civil Defense System in Harbin



Ports and waterways

There are more than 1,900 rivers in Heilongjiang, including the
Songhua River The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, russian: Сунгари ''Sungari'') is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur. It flows about from the Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea bo ...
,
Heilong River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China ( Inner Manchuria). The Amur proper is long, ...
and Wusuli River, creating a convenient system of waterway transportation. Harbin harbor is one of eight inland ports in China and the largest of its type in Northeast China. Available from mid-April until the beginning of November, passenger ships sail from Harbin up the Songhua River to Qiqihar, or downstream to Jiamusi, Tongjiang, and Khabarovsk in Russia.


Education and research

Harbin is one of the top 100 cities and metropolitan areas in the world by scientific research output as tracked by the
Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries and their scientific output since its introduction in November, 2014. Each year, Nature Index ranks the leading institutions (which can be companies, universities, government agen ...
. As Harbin serves as an important military industrial base after PRC's foundation, it is home to several key universities mainly focused on the science and technology service of national military and aerospace industry. Soviet experts played an important role in many education projects in this period. Due to the threat of possible war with the Soviet Union, however, several colleges were moved southwards to
Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, and ...
, Chongqing, and several other
southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...
cities in China in the 1960s. Some of these colleges were returned to Harbin in the 1970s. The city hosts several major universities in
Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...
, including Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin Engineering University,
Harbin Medical University Harbin Medical University (HMU) () is a public university located in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. HMU is appointed as a national education and training base for biomedical scientists and teaching talents by the National Bureau of Advanced Healt ...
,
Northeast Agricultural University Northeast Agricultural University (NEAU; ) was established in 1948 in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, People's Republic of China. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University Plan university, identified by the Ministry of Education. NEAU is ...
,
Harbin University of Science and Technology Harbin University of Science and Technology () is a university in Harbin, China. Previously known as Harbin University of Science and Technology (). It is colloquially known as Hakeda (), or Harbin Institute of Electrical Technology(). It is collo ...
, Harbin Normal University, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin University, Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin University of Commerce,
Harbin Sport University Harbin Sport University () is a university in Harbin, China, working with research on health and sports. In 2015, the announcement of a new Olympic winter sports center was made, to be set up at Harbin Sport University. The Harbin Sport Universit ...
, and Heilongjiang University. Notably, Harbin Institute of Technology is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in the world for engineering. HIT was ranked fifth globally in the Best Global Universities for Engineering by U.S. News in 2022. Founded in 1920 with strong support by the Russian diaspora connected with the Chinese Eastern Railway, the university has developed into an important research university mainly focusing on engineering (e.g. in space science and
defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...
-related technologies, welding technology and engineering), with supporting faculties in the sciences, management, humanities and social sciences. The institute's faculty and students contributed to and invented China's first analog computer, the first intelligent chess computer, and the first arc-welding robot. In 2010, research funding from the government, industry, and business sectors surpassed RMB1.13 billion, the second highest of any university in China.


Military

Harbin is now headquarters of the
78th Group Army The 78th Group Army (), is a military formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces (PLAGF). The 78th Group Army is one of twelve total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground forces in the People's Republic of ...
of the
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the China, People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five Military branch, service branches: the People's ...
, one of the three group armies that comprise the
Northern Theater Command The Northern Theater Command (is) one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army, founded on 1 February 2016. Its predecessor is the Shenyang Military Region and Beijing Military Region. Its headquarters is in the Heping Dis ...
responsible for defending China's northeastern borders with Russia,
Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...
and
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
. 23rd Group Army of the
PLA PLA may refer to: Organizations Politics and military * People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party * People's Liberation Army (disambiguation) ** Irish National Liberation Army, formerly called t ...
used to garrison in Harbin before it was disbanded in a cycle of reductions in 2003.


International relations

Harbin has town twinning and similar arrangements with approximately 30 places around the world, as well as some other cities within China. For a list, see List of twin towns and sister cities in China → H. In 2009 Harbin opened an International Sister Cities museum. It has 1,048 exhibits in 28 rooms, with a total area of . On 3 September 2015, China and Russia signed an agreement to re-open the Russian consulate in Harbin, as the former Soviet consulate was closed in 1962 after the Sino-Soviet split. China will also establish a corresponding consulate in Vladivostok.


See also

* Dragon man * Harbin Ferris Wheel *
Harbin Siberian Tiger Park )''Hēilóngjiāng Āmù'ěr Hǔ Yuán'' ( zh, 黑龙江阿穆尔虎园)''Dōngběi Hǔ Lín Yuán'' ( zh, 东北虎林园) , other_name = Heilongjiang Amur Tiger ParkNortheast Tiger Forest Park , logo = , logo_width = , logo_caption = , image = ...
* List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population * List of colleges and universities in Harbin * List of current and former capitals of subnational entities of China * List of universities and colleges in Heilongjiang


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

* * * Excerpt at * Walravens, Hartmut. "German Influence on the Press in China". – In: ''Newspapers in International Librarianship: Papers Presented by the Newspaper Section at IFLA General Conferences''.
Walter de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...
, 1 January 2003. . e
Also available at
the website of the Queens Library – This version does not include the footnotes visible in the Walter de Gruyter version **Also available in Walravens, Hartmut and Edmund King. ''Newspapers in international librarianship: papers presented by the newspapers section at IFLA General Conferences''. K.G. Saur, 2003. .


Further reading

* Bakich, Olga. "A Russian City in China: Harbin before 1917". ''Canadian Slavonic Papers'' 28.2 (1986): 129–148. * Carter, James. "Struggle for the Soul of a City: Nationalism, Imperialism, and Racial Tension in 1920s Harbin". ''Modern China'' 27.1 (2001): 91–116. * Clausen, Søren, and Stig Thøgersen. ''The making of a Chinese city: history and historiography in Harbin'' (ME Sharpe, 1995). * Gamsa, Mark. "Harbin in comparative perspective". ''Urban History'' 37.1 (2010): 136–149. * Guins, George C. "Russians in Manchuria". ''Russian Review'' 2.2 (1943): 81–87
Onlineexcerpt
* Horn, Dara, ''People Love Dead Jews''. New York: W. W. Norton. (2021) . Chapter 2: Frozen Jews. * Lahusen, Thomas. "A place called Harbin: reflections on a centennial". ''China Quarterly'' 154 (1998): 400–410. * Meyer, Mike, "Manchuria Under Ice", ''Departures Magazine'', Nov/Dec 2006, 292–297 * Xie, Liou, et al. "Harbin: A rust belt city revival from its strategic position". ''Cities'' 58 (2016): 26–38
Online
* Zissermann, Lenore Lamont, ''Mitya's Harbin; Majesty and Menace'', Book Publishers Network, 2016,


External links


Harbin Government website
* {{Authority control Cities in Heilongjiang Provincial capitals in China Songhua River Populated places with period of establishment missing Prefecture-level divisions of Heilongjiang Sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China