Qiqihar () is the second-largest city in the
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
province of China, in the west central part of the province. The built-up (or metro) area made up of Longsha, Tiefeng and Jianhua districts had 959,787 inhabitants, while the total population of the prefecture-level city was shrinking to 4,067,489 as of the 2020 census (5,367,003 as of 2010).
[ ] These are mainly
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 distinctiv ...
, though the city is also home to thirty-four minorities including
Manchus
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
,
Daur, and
Mongols
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 membe ...
.
Close to Qiqihar are numerous wetlands and the
Zhalong Nature Reserve, famous in China for being home to numerous
red-crowned cranes.
Etymology
The
Khitan people settled in the region under the
Liao dynasty
The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...
. The word "Qiqi" is a reference to a local river; the word "hari" refers to defense; literally, it means "defense of Qiqi". The name Qiqihar comes from
Manchu (cicihar)
History
Early history
Qiqihar is one of the oldest cities in the northeast of China. The region was originally settled by nomadic
Daur and
Tungus
Tungusic peoples are an ethno-linguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages (or Manchu–Tungus languages). They are native to Siberia and Northeast Asia.
The Tungusic phylum is divided into two main branches, northern (Evenic or ...
herdsmen. "Qiqihar" is a
Daur word, which means 'border' or 'natural pasture'.
[
] The city's original name was Bukui (), the Chinese transcription of a
Daur word meaning "auspicious". The city's oldest mosque, the
Bukui Mosque
Bukui Mosque () is a mosque in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, China. It is located in Mosque Road () off Bukui Street. It was built during the Qing dynasty, and listed in 2006 as a Major Site to Be Protected for Its Historical and Cultural Value at the ...
, predates the foundation of the city by seven years. As the
Czarist
Tsarist autocracy (russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. ''tsarskoye samoderzhaviye''), also called Tsarism, was a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states th ...
Russian eastward advance to the Pacific coast, Qiqihar became a major garrison center in 1674. In 1691, a stronghold was constructed in Qiqihar because of the Qing government's campaigns against the
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 ...
s. Around 1700 it was a center for
Russo-Chinese trade. A military depot with barracks and an arsenal was set up there, and many convicted criminals were exiled to the area. Heilongjiang Martial domiciled in Qiqihar City in 1699.
The Qing Dynasty had initially intended to keep the far-northern
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
province as a semi-pastoral area, separate from the wider Chinese agricultural economy, so it did not allow seasonal urban migrants, such as those from
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...
and
Shandong who wished to participate in the Qiqihar
fur trade, to own acres and transform the land. After 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. ...
seized
Outer Manchuria
Outer Manchuria (russian: Приаму́рье, translit=Priamurye; zh, s=外满洲, t=外滿洲, p=Wài Mǎnzhōu), or Outer Northeast China ( zh, s=外东北, t=外東北, p=Wài Dōngběi), refers to a territory in Northeast Asia that is now ...
according to the
unequal treaties
Unequal treaty is the name given by the Chinese to a series of treaties signed during the 19th and early 20th centuries, between China (mostly referring to the Qing dynasty) and various Western powers (specifically the British Empire, France, the ...
of
Aigun and
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, the Qing made the decision to lift the various restrictions it placed on
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 ...
and on Heilongjiang residency in particular, in 1868, 1878, and 1904. It enlisted
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 distinctiv ...
to help to teach the local
Solon people The Solon people () are a subgroup of the Evenks, Ewenki (Evenk) people of northeastern Asia. They live in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Heilongjiang Province, and constitute the majority of China's Ewenki.
Terminology and classifica ...
farming techniques, providing materials and tax exemptions to convert them from hunting.
In 1903, The completion of the
Chinese Eastern Railway
The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...
made Qiqihar a center for communications between China and Russia. A network of lines radiating from Qiqihar was extended into the northwestern part of Heilongjiang Province including
Jiagedaqi and
Manzhouli
Manzhouli (; mn, Манжуур хот; ) is a sub-prefectural city located in Hulunbuir prefecture-level city, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. Located on the border with Russia, it is a major land port of entry. It has an area of and ...
in the late 1920s.
Second Sino-Japanese War
In 1931, Japan used a
false flag attack, remembered as the
September 18 Incident
The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
On September 18, 1931, L ...
, to justify moving its
Guandong Army to capture major cities in Northeast China that month, starting with
Shenyang,
Changchun, then
Jilin City
Jilin City (), alternately romanized as Kirin, is the second-largest city and former capital of Jilin province in northeast China. As of the 2020 census, 3,623,713 people resided within its administrative area of and 1,895,865 in its buil ...
. General
Ma Zhanshan
Ma Zhanshan (Ma Chan-shan; ; November 30, 1885 – November 29, 1950) was a Chinese general who initially opposed the Imperial Japanese Army in the invasion of Manchuria, briefly defected to Manchukuo, and then rebelled and fought against the ...
was ordered to act as Governor and Military Commander-in-chief of Heilongjiang Province on October 10, 1931. General Ma declined a Japanese ultimatum to surrender Qiqihar on November 15. However, after the loss of
Jiangqiao Campaign, the Japanese began their occupation of Qiqihar on November 19, 1931.
Liaoning fell in December, and
Harbin in February; the puppet
Manchukuo government of the Japanese-occupied territory under General
Zhang Jinghui
Zhang Jinghui (Chang Ching-hui; ; Hepburn: ''Chō Keikei''); (1871 – 1 November 1959) was a Chinese general, warlord and politician during the Warlord era. He is noted for his role in the Japanese puppet regime of Manchukuo in which he serve ...
established Qiqihar as its administrative center and of Longjiang province. Qiqihar became a major military base for Guandong Army and its economic importance also grew rapidly. During the occupation, the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
established
Unit 516 in Qiqihar for research into
chemical warfare. A major
mustard gas tank left over from the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
buried underground was accidentally damaged in August 2003, causing 43 injuries and one death.
Modern era
After the defeat of Japan, the Democratic Regime Qiqihar Municipal Government was established, under the administration of Nenjiang Province. Japanese forces 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 ...
surrendered to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
while other Japanese forces in the rest of China surrendered to the United States.
[Zarrow, Peter Gue. ]005
''005'' is a 1981 arcade game by Sega. They advertised it as the first of their RasterScan Convert-a-Game series, designed so that it could be changed into another game in minutes "at a substantial savings". It is one of the first examples of a ...
(2005). China in War and Revolution, 1895–1949. Routledge. . pg 338.[LTC 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 state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
. From March to May, Soviet troops progressively withdrew from their positions, giving the
People's Liberation Army more notice than the
National Revolutionary Army so that the former could occupy more positions in the context of the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
. Qiqihar was controlled by the Communists on April 24, 1946, along with other important regional cities like Changchun, Jilin City, and Harbin. Qiqihar was established as the capital of Heilongjiang Province after the foundation of People's Republic of China in 1949. However, since Songjiang Province was merged into Heilongjiang Province, the provincial capital was transferred to
Harbin in 1954. During the first five-year plan of China from 1951 to 1956, many factories including Beiman Special Steel Co. and China First Heavy Industries were aid-constructed by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
in
Fularji District, making Qiqihar an important center of equipment manufacturing industry in Northeast China. In 1984, Qiqihar was designated to be one of the 13 Larger Municipalities in China by the
General Office of the State Council.
Geography
Qiqihar City sits on a land area of 42,289 square kilometers at an altitude of 100–500 meters, with an average elevation of 146 meters.
Border
Qiqihar is located along the middle and lower reaches of the
Nen River and the hinterland of Songnen Plain, which is adjacent to the
Greater Khingan
The Greater Khingan Range or Da Hinggan Range (; IPA: ), is a -long volcanic mountain range in the Inner Mongolia region of Northeast China.
It was originally called the Xianbei Mountains, which later became the name of the northern branch of th ...
Range and Hulunbuir Prairie. Bordering prefecture cities are:
*
Baicheng
Baicheng () is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Jilin province, People's Republic of China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Heilongjiang to the east and northeast. At the 2010 census, 2,033,058 people l ...
,
Jilin
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
(S)
*
Daqing (E)
*
Heihe
Heihe (; ; Russian: Хэйхэ) is a prefecture-level city of northern Heilongjiang province, China, located on the Russian border, on the south bank of the Amur (Heilong) River, across the river from Blagoveshchensk. At the 2020 census, 1 ...
(N)
*
Hulunbuir,
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
(W)
*
Suihua
Suihua () is a prefecture-level city in west-central Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, adjacent to Yichun to the east, Harbin, the provincial capital, to the south, Daqing to the west and Heihe to the north. It has 3,756,167 inha ...
(NE)
*
Hinggan League
The Hinggan League (; mn, tr. ''Hinggan Aimag'', Mongol Cyrillic: Хянган аймаг) is a prefecture-level subdivision of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It borders Hulun Buir to the nort ...
, Inner Mongolia (W)
The city's metro area is located from the provincial capital of
Harbin, from Baicheng, from Daqing, and from Suihua. The total area under the city's jurisdiction is . The region's elevation above sea level is generally between and .
[
]
Climate
Qiqihar has a cold,
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 osci ...
-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 freezing ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''Dwa''), with four distinct seasons. It has long, bitterly cold, but dry winters, with a 24-hour average in January of . Spring and fall are mild, but short and quick transitions. Summers are very warm and humid, with a 24-hour average in July of . The average annual precipitation is , with over two-thirds of it falling from June to August. The annual mean is . With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 56% in July to 73% in February, the city receives abundant sunshine, with 2,839 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from to .
Subdivisions
Qiqihar is divided into 16 divisions: 7
districts (), 8
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
() and 1
county-level city
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 ...
().
Demographics
According to the
sixth national population census, the population amounted to 5,367,003 people. There are 2,720,725 men and 2,646,278 women. The population age of 0-14 was 691,722, 4,238,140 people aged 15–64 and 437,141 people aged 65 and older.
Economy
Qiqihar is a heavily industrialized city involved in manufacturing.
In 2009, the city's 95 large-scale equipment manufacturing enterprises, with total assets of 30.6 billion yuan, accounting for the city's industrial enterprises above designated size of 46.5% of total assets, the number of employees 5.2 million, accounting for the city's industrial enterprises above the size of 45.6% of the total number of employees. The main business income of 25.57 billion yuan, industrial added value of 8.05 billion yuan, profits of 1.96 billion yuan, 1.03 billion yuan of taxes, respectively, year on year growth of 2.9%, 3%, 19.6% and 22.3%, accounting for the city's industrial enterprises above designated size were 40.6%, 40%, 44.3% and 31.7%, respectively.
Hospitals
Qiqihar has 23 hospitals.
Companies
Companies conducting business in Qiqihar include
RT-Mart,
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
,
GOME Electrical Appliances, and Suning Commerce Group.
Banks
Since Qiqihar is a large city, numerous banks work here. Some of the banks include
Bank of China,
China Construction Bank
China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) is one of the " big four" banks in China. In 2015, CCB was the 2nd largest bank in the world by market capitalization and 6th largest company in the world. The bank has approximately 13,629 domestic branc ...
,
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and
Agricultural Bank of China
Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), also known as AgBank, is one of the " Big Four" banks in China. It was founded on 10 July 1951, and has its headquarters in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It has branches throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, ...
.
Tourism
Qiqihar is very close to the
Zhalong Nature Reserve. Also, there is the Longsha park.
Transportation
Airport
Qiqihar is served by its own domestic airport,
Qiqihar Sanjiazi Airport.
Trains
Qiqihar is well-connected in terms of railway transportation. Trains from
Qiqihar Railway Station connect the city with
Harbin,
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
Dalian,
Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...
,
Xi'an
Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...
and several other major cities in China.
Qiqihar Sanjiazi Airport, from Qiqihar's downtown area, operates daily flights to Beijing,
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
,
Shangha
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 ...
i and other major cities in China. In the district of
Ang'angxi, the
Harbin-Manzhouli Railway intersects with the
Qiqihar-Bei'an Railway.
The
Harbin–Qiqihar intercity railway opened on 17 August 2015;
it provides frequent high-speed service to
Harbin, as well as some direct trains to Beijing.
River
The Nen River is used to transport material.
Gallery
File:Old Qiqihar Station 01.jpg, The old station building, now used for first class
File:Qiqihar Station 01.jpg, The old station building
File:Qiqihar Station 02.jpg, The new station building
Education
Numerous schools exist in the city. Four elementary schools feed into 8 city or county high schools.
There are two universities:
Qiqihar University and its
medical school.
Sister cities
*
New Castle County
New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...
,
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
, United States
*
Utsunomiya
is the prefectural capital city of Tochigi Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 519,223, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Utsunomiya is famous for its '' gyoza' ...
,
Tochigi, Japan
*
Goyang,
Gyeonggi
Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...
, South Korea
*
10th of Ramadan City, Egypt
*
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...
, Russia
Notable people from Qiqihar
*
Wanrong - Princess consort to Puyi
*
Ma Zhanshan
Ma Zhanshan (Ma Chan-shan; ; November 30, 1885 – November 29, 1950) was a Chinese general who initially opposed the Imperial Japanese Army in the invasion of Manchuria, briefly defected to Manchukuo, and then rebelled and fought against the ...
- General
*
Zhou Tienong - Vice chair of
Standing committee of Congress of China
*
Chen Yunlin - politician
*
Zhai Zhigang
Zhai Zhigang (; born 11 October 1966) is a Chinese major general of the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force (PLASSF) in active service as a People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonaut. During the Shenzhou 7 mission ...
- Astronaut
*
Liu Boming - Astronaut
*
Bai Xue
Xue Bai (; name means ''White Snow''; born 15 December 1988 in Heilongjiang) is a female PR China, Chinese long-distance runner who specializes in the 10,000 metres.
Career
Bai won both the 5000 and the 10,000 metres at the 2005 Asian Champions ...
- 10,000 meter runner
*
Mao Buyi - singer-songwriter
Notes
External links
Official WebsiteHistoric US Army map of Qiqihar, 1945
{{Authority control
Populated places established in the 12th century
1125 establishments
Prefecture-level divisions of Heilongjiang
Cities in Heilongjiang
12th-century establishments in China