Harbin

For other uses, see Harbin (disambiguation).

Harbin 哈尔滨 —  Sub-provincial city  — 哈尔滨市 From top: Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, Hongbo Square and surrounding, Harbin Xinhua Bookstore, Saint Sofia Church, Harbin Mosque, and the Ji Le Temple Flag Seal Nickname(s): Ice City, Oriental Paris, Oriental Moscow Harbin (red) in Heilongjiang (orange) Harbin Location of the city centre in Heilongjiang Coordinates: 45°45′N 126°38′E Country People's Republic of China Province Heilongjiang County-level divisions 18 Government  • secretary of a municipal committee of the CPC Lin Duo 林 铎 (since April , 2012)  • Mayor Song Xibin 宋希斌 (since January, 2012) Area  • Sub-provincial city 53,100 km2 (20,500 sq mi)  • Urban 7,068 km2 (2,729 sq mi)  • Metro 7,068 km2 (2,729 sq mi) Elevation 150 m (488 ft) Population (2010)  • Sub-provincial city 10,635,971  • Density Bad rounding here200/km2 (Bad rounding here520/sq mi)  • Urban 5,282,083  • Urban density Bad rounding here750/km2 (Bad rounding here1,900/sq mi)  • Metro 5,878,939  • Metro density Bad rounding here830/km2 (Bad rounding here2,200/sq mi) Time zone China Standard (UTC+8) Postal code 150000 Area code(s) 451 License plate prefixes 黑A,黑L GDP (2011) CNY 4243.4 billion  - per capita CNY 39,896 City flowers Lilac Website www.harbin.gov.cn Harbin Chinese name Simplified Chinese 哈尔滨 Traditional Chinese 哈爾濱 Literal meaning a place for drying fishing nets or laughter like coast Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Hā'ěrbīn - Wade–Giles Ha-erh-pin Wu - Romanization ha平r上pin平 Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping haa1ji5ban1 Manchu name Manchu ᡥᠠᡵᠪᡳᠨ (Harbin) Russian name Russian Харби́н

Harbin (Chinese: 哈尔滨; pinyin:  Hā'ěrbīn  [xɑ́ɻpín]; Manchu language: , Harbin; is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang province in Northeast China, as well as the tenth most populous city nationally. According to the 2010 census, the city's urban area has 5,878,939 inhabitants, while the total population of the sub-provincial city is up to 10,635,971. Harbin serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural and communications hub in the northeast.

Harbin, which is originally a Manchu word meaning "a place for drying fishing nets", grew from a small rural settlement on the Songhua River to become one of the largest cities in the northeast. Founded by Russia in 1898 with the coming of the Trans-Manchurian Railway, today known as the Chinese Eastern Railway, the city first prospered as a region inhabited by an overwhelming majority of the Jewish immigrants. It is known for its bitterly cold winters and is often called the "Ice City." Harbin is notable for its beautiful ice sculptures in winter and its Russian legacy, and it still plays an important part in Sino-Russian trade today. In the 1920s, the city was considered China's fashion capital since new designs from Paris and Moscow reached there first before arriving in Shanghai. In 2010, Harbin was declared a UNESCO "City of Music".

History

Kitayskaya Street (Russian for "China Street") (中國大街) in Harbin

Early history

Human settlement in the Harbin area dates from at least 2200 BC (late Stone Age). In 1115 CE, Jin Dynasty established their capital, Shangjing (上京 or Upper Capital) Huining Fu (会宁府), in today's Acheng District of Harbin. However, the region of Harbin was still largely rural until the 1800s. There were only over ten villages and about 30,000 people in Harbin region by the end of the 19th century.

Foreign influence

See also: Harbin Russians

See also: History of the Jews in China

White Russians in Harbin, 1934

The modern city of Harbin originated in 1898 from a small village. The city was established by a Polish engineer Adam Szydłowski following the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway (KVZhD) financed by the Russian Empire. Chinese Eastern Railway is an extension of the Trans-Siberian Railway, shortcutting substantially the distance from Chita to Vladivostok and creating a link to the port city of Dalny (Dalian) and the Russian Naval Base Port Arthur. During the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5), Harbin was a base for Russian military operations in Northeastern China.

However, following the Russian defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, Russia's influence declined, and several thousand nationals from 33 countries including the United States, Germany, and France moved to Harbin. Sixteen countries established consulates and set up several hundred industrial, commercial and banking companies in Harbin. The Chinese capital also established their own businesses rapidly, especially in brewing, food and the textile industry. Harbin had established its status as the economic center of northeastern China and as an international metropolis. National census carried out in 1913 by the Chinese Eastern Railway revealed the following ethnic breakdown of the city's population: Russians – 34313, Chinese (that is, including Hans, Manchus etc.) – 23537, Jews – 5032, Poles – 2556, Japanese – 696, Germans – 564, Tatars – 234, Latvians – 218, Georgians – 183, Estonians – 172, Lithuanians – 142, Armenians – 124; there were also Karaims, Ukrainians, Bashkirs, and some Western Europeans. In total, 68549 citizens of 53 nationalities, speaking 45 languages.

St Nicholas, a Russian Orthodox church in Harbin, circa 1925, destroyed during the Cultural Revolution

After the Great October Socialist Revolution took place in Russia, defeated Russian White Guards and refugees retreated to the city in December 1918. Harbin then became a major centre of White Russian émigrés. The city became the largest Russian enclave outside the Soviet Union. The Harbin Jewish community was formed by Russian Jews and after 1919, Dr. Abraham Kaufman played a leading role in this community. Later on this Jewish community included a group of German Jews, who fled Nazi Germany in the late 1930s. Under the pro bono efforts by Japanese government officials, they later emigrated to several cities in western Japan, notably Kobe, to ensure their safety and prosperity and established the largest synagogue in Japan. The Russians established the Russian school system and published Russian language newspapers and journals.

Japanese invasion period

See also: Defense of Harbin

Imperial Japanese Army entered Harbin after Mukden Incident

Japan invaded Manchuria outright after the Mukden Incident in September 1931. After Tsitsihar was controlled by the Japanese in the Jiangqiao Campaign, the Japanese 4th Mixed Brigade moved in from Tsitsihar. The Japanese army closed in on Harbin from the west and south on February 4. The Chinese army was forced to retreat from Harbin under the bombing and strafing by Japanese aircraft. Within a few hours the Japanese occupation of Harbin was complete.

With the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, an ongoing campaign was set up to defeat the anti-Japanese volunteer armies. The city became the main base of operations of the infamous Unit 731 which was responsible for some of the most grisly war atrocities in human history. The people of Harbin, such as revolutionary martyrs including Zhao Shangzhi, Yang Jingyu, Li Zhaolin, Zhao Yiman waged a hard struggle against the Japanese during this period. In 1935, the Soviet Union sold the Chinese Eastern Railway (KVZhD) to the Japanese, which resulted in the first exodus of Russian emigres from Manchuria and Harbin in particular. The bulk of the departing Russians went back to the Soviet Union, while a substantial number moved south to Shanghai or emigrated to the United States and Australia. Japanese occupation also had a negative impact on the Harbin Jewish community (13,000 in 1929). Most of these Jews left Harbin for Shanghai, Tientsin, and British Mandate of Palestine.

Post World War II

The Soviet Army took the city on 20 August 1945 and Harbin never came under the control of the Kuomintang, whose troops stopped 60 km (37 mi) short of the city. The city's administration was transferred by the departing Soviet Army to the Chinese People's Liberation Army in April 1946. On April 28, 1946, the Communist Government of Harbin was established, making the 700,000-citizen-city the first large city under CPC rule. During the short occupation of Harbin by the Soviet Army (August 1945 to April 1946), thousands of Russian emigres who fled communism after the revolution, were forcibly moved to the Soviet Union. The rest of the European community (Russians, Germans, Poles, Greeks, etc.) emigrated during the years 1950–54 to Australia, Brazil and the USA, or were repatriated to their home countries. By 1988 the original Russian community numbered just thirty, all of them elderly.

Since the transportation between Harbin and Soviet Union was very convenient, Harbin was among 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 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 many foreign and Christian things were uprooted, such as the St. Nicholas church which was destroyed by Red Guards in 1966. As the normal economic and social order was seriously disrupted, Harbin's economy also suffered from serious setback.

However, national economy and social service have obtained significant achievements since the economic reforms 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. 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, the former Prime Minister of Israel. In 2004 Olmert came to Harbin with an Israeli trade delegation to visit the grave of his grandfather.

A benzene plant situated upstream in Jilin City along the Songhua River exploded on 13 November 2005. Benzene levels reached more than 100 times normal levels, which led authorities in Harbin to shut off the water supply, and some residents left the city while others rushed to buy bottled water. After a few days the water supply was restored. The Harbin government originally declared to the public that the water supply was temporarily off while the supply system was checked. They also denied reports of a chemical leak, claiming that it was "just a rumour."

The eight counties of Harbin originally formed part of Songhuajiang Prefecture (松花江地区), and became incorporated into Harbin on 11 August 1999, making Harbin a sub-provincial city. The municipality had 10,635,971 inhabitants at the 2010 census and its built up area now covers seven districts of Harbin municipality: all urban districts plus Hulan county who is merging with Songbei districts. The built up area is now home to 5,282,083 inhabitants spread out on 4,275 km² (1,651 sq mi).

Harbin hosted the third Asian Winter Games in 1996. In 2009, Harbin held the XXIV Winter Universiade.

Geography

Harbin and vicinities, LandSat-5 satellite image, 2010-09-22

Harbin
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.4   −12 −24     5.3   −7 −20     9.7   3 −10     18   14 1     40   21 8     84   26 15     143   28 18     121   26 16     58   21 9     26   12 0     9.6   0 −10     5.8   −9 −20 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: CMA
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.1   10 −11     0.2   19 −4     0.4   37 15     0.7   56 33     1.6   70 46     3.3   79 58     5.6   82 65     4.8   79 61     2.3   69 48     1   53 32     0.4   32 14     0.2   15 −4 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Harbin, with a total land area of 53,068 km² (20,490 sq mi), is located in southern Heilongjiang province, on the southeastern edge of the Songnen Plain (松嫩平原). The city center also sits on the southern bank of the middle Songhua River. 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 to the northeast, Mudanjiang to the southeast, Daqing to the west, and Suihua to the northwest. On its southwestern boundary is Jilin province. The main terrain of the city is generally flat and low-lyling, with an average elevation of around 150 metres (490 ft). However, the territory that comprises the 10 county-level divisions in the eastern part of the municipality bears plenty of mountains and uplands.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Harbin features a monsoon-influenced, humid continental climate (Dwa). Due to the Siberian high and its location above 45 degrees north latitude, the city is known for its coldest weather and longest winter among major Chinese cities. Its "Ice City" (冰城) nickname is well-earned, as winters here are dry and bitterly cold, with a 24-hour average in January of only −18.4 °C (−1.1 °F), 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 23.0 °C (73.4 °F). Summer is also when most of the year's rainfall occurs, and more than half of the annual precipitation, at 524 millimetres (20.6 in), occurs in July and August alone. The annual mean temperature is +4.25 °C (39.7 °F), and extreme temperatures have ranged from −42.6 °C (−45 °F) to 39.2 °C (103 °F).

Climate data for Harbin (1971–2000)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	−12.3 (9.9)	−7.1 (19.2)	2.5 (36.5)	13.6 (56.5)	21.2 (70.2)	26.0 (78.8)	28.0 (82.4)	26.3 (79.3)	20.7 (69.3)	11.7 (53.1)	−0.1 (31.8)	−9.4 (15.1)	10.1 (50.2)
Average low °C (°F)	−23.9 (−11)	−19.8 (−3.6)	−9.5 (14.9)	0.5 (32.9)	7.9 (46.2)	14.6 (58.3)	18.3 (64.9)	16.2 (61.2)	8.7 (47.7)	0.1 (32.2)	−10.1 (13.8)	−19.8 (−3.6)	−1.4 (29.5)
Precipitation mm (inches)	3.4 (0.134)	5.3 (0.209)	9.7 (0.382)	18.4 (0.724)	40.4 (1.591)	84.4 (3.323)	142.7 (5.618)	121.2 (4.772)	57.6 (2.268)	25.9 (1.02)	9.6 (0.378)	5.8 (0.228)	524.4 (20.647)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	5.8	5.7	5.7	6.7	10.3	13.5	14.2	12.3	9.9	7.1	6.0	7.2	104.4
% humidity	73	69	56	49	51	65	77	78	70	63	65	71	65.6
Mean monthly sunshine hours	155.9	179.9	230.9	231.4	264.1	260.2	254.2	247.2	230.5	206.8	170.2	139.9	2,571.2
Percent possible sunshine	56	62	63	57	58	56	54	57	61	61	60	52	58.1
Source: China Meteorological Administration

Administrative divisions

The sub-provincial city of Harbin has direct jurisdiction over 8 districts (区 qū), 3 county-level cities (市 shì) and 7 Counties (县 xiàn). On August 15, 2006, Dongli District (动力区) merged into Xiangfang District while Acheng District was established in place of the former Acheng City.

#	Name	Hanzi	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2010-11-01)	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
City proper
1	Daoli District	道里区	Dàolǐ Qū	923,762	479	1,929
2	Nangang District	南岗区	Nángǎng Qū	1,343,857	183	7,343
3	Daowai District	道外区	Dàowài Qū	906,421	257	3,527
4	Xiangfang District	香坊区	Xiāngfáng Qū	916,408	340	2,695
5	Pingfang District	平房区	Píngfáng Qū	190,253	94	2,024
6	Songbei District	松北区	Sōngběi Qū	236,848	736	322
Suburbs
7	Hulan District	呼兰区	Hūlán Qū	764,534	2,186	350
8	Acheng District	阿城区	Àchéng Qū	596,856	2,770	215
Satellite cities
9	Shuangcheng	双城市	Shuāngchéng Shì	825,634	3,112	265
10	Shangzhi	尚志市	Shàngzhì Shì	585,386	8,895	66
11	Wuchang	五常市	Wǔcháng Shì	881,224	7,512	117
Rural
12	Yilan County	依兰县	Yīlán Xiàn	388,319	4,672	83
13	Fangzheng County	方正县	Fāngzhèng Xiàn	203,853	2,993	68
14	Bin County	宾县	Bīn Xiàn	551,271	3,846	143
15	Bayan County	巴彦县	Bāyàn Xiàn	590,555	3,138	188
16	Mulan County	木兰县	Mùlán Xiàn	277,685	3,602	77
17	Tonghe County	通河县	Tōnghé Xiàn	210,650	5,755	37
18	Yanshou County	延寿县	Yánshòu Xiàn	242,455	3,226	75

Economy

Harbin is located in Northeast China, along with several other major cities including Changchun, Dalian and Shenyang. While Dalian is considered the region's shipping center and Shenyang its financial hub, Harbin is striving hard towards becoming the key trade and shopping center of the region. The city is located in one of the fastest growing regions in the world and can boast a number of advantages such as an abundance of natural resources, good transport system and plenty of human resources.

Commercial street with European façades in Harbin (2007)

In 2010, Harbin's GDP reached RMB366.59 billion, an increase of 14.0 percent over the previous year. Harbin is the largest economy in Heilongjiang province. Tertiary industry output remained the largest component of GDP reaching RMB186.86 billion, an increase of 13.5 percent from the previous year. The total value for imports and exports by the end of 2010 was US$4.4 billion.

The 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, automobile, metallurgy, electronics, building materials, and chemicals which help to form a fairly comprehensive industrial system. Harbin Power Equipment Group Company and Northeast Light Alloy Processing Factory are two key enterprises. Harbin is also known as the capital of power manufacturing; hydro and thermal power equipment manufactured here makes up one-third of the total installed capacity in China.

Foreign investors seem upbeat about the city. The Harbin Trade and Economic fair, has been held for 17 years annually, cumulatively attracting more than 1.3 million exhibitors and visitors and resulting in contracts of over US$90 billion. Japanese, Russian and Eastern European nations are increasingly looking to North China and Harbin for investment. Foreign direct investment remains low, but is growing as a result of government efforts, with utilized FDI totaling US$570 million, up 28.1 percent, in 2008.

Harbin is also home to Harbin Institute of Technology, one of China's better known universities. Founded in 1920, the university has developed into an important research university focusing on 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.

Economic Development Zones and Ports

• Harbin Development Zone
  • Harbin Economic and Technological Development Zone
  • Harbin High and New Technological Development Zone

Harbin High-tech Zone was set up in 1988 and was approved by the State Council as a national development zone in 1991. It has a total area of 34 sqkm in the centralized parks, subdivided into Nangang, Haping Road and Yingbin Road Centralized Parks. The Nangang Centralized Park is 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; the Haping Road Centralized Park is a comprehensive industrial basis for the investment projects of automobile and automobile parts manufacturing, medicines, foodstuffs, electronics, textile; the Yingbin Road Centralized Park is mainly for high-tech incubation projects, high-tech industrial development.

• Harbin Port
• Harbin High-tech Industrial Development Zone

Demographics

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1953	1,162,962	—
1964	1,962,000	+68.7%
1982	2,542,832	+29.6%
1990	4,219,516	+65.9%
2000	9,413,359	+123.1%
2010	10,635,971	+13.0%
Population size may be affected by changes on administrative divisions.

The 2010 census revealed that the official total population in Harbin was 10,635,971, representing a 12.99% increase over the last decade. The urban area had a population of 5.87 million people. The demographic profile for the Harbin metropolitan area in general is relatively old: 10.95% are under the age of 14, while 8.04% are over 65, compared to the national average of 16.6% and 8.87%, respectively. Harbin has a higher percentage of males (50.85%) than females (49.15%). Harbin currently has a lower birth rate 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 majority(93.45 percent). Ethnic minorities include the Manchu, Hui, and Mongol. In 2000, 616,749 residents belonged to minority nationalities, 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 (119,883) and Hui nationalities (39,995).

Ethnic groups in Harbin, 2000 census
Ethnicity	Population	Percentage
Han	8,796,610	93.45%
Manchu	433,340	4.6%
Koreans	119,883	1.27%
Hui	39,995	0.43%
Mongols	13,163	0.14%
Xibe	4,741	0.05%
Daur	938	0.01%
Others	4,689	0.05%

Culture

The Harbin local culture is based on Han culture, 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.

Russian influence

Main article: Harbin Russians

Harbin Sausage

Harbin today is still very much influenced by its Russian past. A city once under Russian rule, it is now a center of trade with that country.

The influence of Russia came with the construction of the China Far East Railway, an extension of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and Harbin, known formerly as a fishing village, began to prosper as the largest commercial center of North Eastern Asia.

Tsarist Russia encouraged Russian settlement in their important Trans-Siberian-Railway outpost by waiving the then 25-year long military service obligation. For Jews who settled there, the restrictions applying in Russia were also waived.

The local cuisine in Harbin is also Russian-influenced. Harbin's bakeries are famous for their bread da-lie-ba(大列巴) in local dialect, derived from the Russian word khleb for "bread". Harbin's sausages (harbin hong-chang) are another notable product, in that they tend to be of a much more European flavours than other Chinese sausages.

Many Jews came to Harbin during World War II, some of whom died in Harbin and were buried there. There is at least one cemetery with some tombstones bearing the Star of David. It is on a little hill (or cliff) overlooking a busy railway in Nan Gang district.

See also: Chinese Eastern Railway Zone

Winter culture

Tower at Harbin Ice and Snow Festival 2013

Harbin is located in Northeast China under the direct influence of the cold winter wind from Siberia. The average temperature in summer is 21.2 °C (70.2 °F) and −16.8 °C (1.8 °F) in winter.

The annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival has been held since 1985. Although the official start date is January 5 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 (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. Ice and Snow World features illuminated full size buildings made from blocks of 2–3 feet thick crystal clear ice directly taken from Songhua River which passes through the city. Winter activities in the festival include Yabuli Alpine Skiing, winter-swimming in Songhua River, and the ice-lantern exhibition in Zhaolin Garden, which was first held in 1963. Snow carving and ice and snow recreations are world famous.

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 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

Being considered the fashion capital of China in the 1920s, Harbin had the earliest access to European classical music in China. 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 (HCPPB).

In 2006, a 1,000-piano concert was held in Harbin's Central Street(中央大街).

UNESCO 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 August 6 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 August 5, 1961 in Harbin Youth Palace, and kept on every year until 1966 when the Cultural Revolution started in China. In 1979, the Concert was recovered and from 1994, it has been held every two years. In 2008, the 29th Harbin Summer Music Concert was held on August 6.

Media

The Heilongjiang Television and Harbin Economy Radio both serve as the media outlets of this region.

In 1929 the Deutsch-Mandschurische Nachrichten, a German language daily newspaper, opened in Harbin. The editor of the newspaper was an engineer, not a professional journalist. Hartmut Walravens, author of "German Influence on the Press in China," said that "While there was a potential clientele in Harbin owing to many people from Russia and the Baltic states who understood and read German, the paper offered little to interest a wider circle of readers" and that "the main asset of the paper were the advertisements while the news section was very poor." In 1930 the newspaper moved to Tianjin and changed its name to the Deutsch-Chinesische Nachrichten.

Architecture

Russian Orthodox Saint Sofia Church built in 1907, Harbin

The architecture style of Harbin shows a unique combination of oriental and European architecture styles. The city is well known for its unique, Russian and other European-influenced architecture. The architecture in Harbin brings the city the name of "Oriental Moscow" and "Oriental Paris".

Zhongyang Street (Central Street, also known, using the Russian word for Chinese, as Kitaiskaya Street), one of the main business streets in Harbin, is a perfect remnant of the bustling international business activities at the turn of the 20th century. First built in 1898, The 1.4-kilometer long street is a veritable museum of European architectural styles: Baroque and Byzantine façades, little Russian bakeries and French fashion houses, as well as non European architectural styles: American eateries, and Japanese restaurants.

The Russian Orthodox church, Saint Sophia Cathedral, is also located in this central district of Daoli. St. Sophia took nine years to build and was completed in 1932. The 53.35-meter-high Church, which covers an area of 721 square meters, is a typical representative of the Byzantine architecture. It has now been made into a museum as a showcase of the diverse architecture of Harbin.

Many citizens believe that the Orthodox church damaged the local feng shui, so they donated money to build a Chinese monastery in 1921, the Ji Le Temple. There were more than 15 Russian Orthodox churches and two cemeteries in Harbin until 1949. Mao's Communist Revolution, and the subsequent Cultural Revolution, saw many of them destroyed. Now, about 10 churches remain, while services are held only in the Church of the Intercession in Harbin.

Sports

Harbin has produced many world-class winter sports champions, including short track star and six-time Olympic medalist Wang Meng, 2006 pairs figure skating silver medalists Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao and 2010 Vancouver Olympics figure skating gold medalists Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo.

It has an indoor speed skating arena, Heilongjiang Indoor Rink, as one of four in China.

It´s a real winter sport centre. There are even plans to introduce bandy.

Events

The 1996 Asian Winter Games were held in Harbin, and the city also bid for hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Alpine skiing events would have taken place in the Yabuli ski resort. In the frame of this campaign to assert its role on the world scene, Harbin was the host city of the 2009 Winter Universiade. Harbin planned to spend US$ 1.5 billion in construction and renovation of its sport infrastructure for this Universiade. Harbin also bid for the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, but was passed over so still has its sights on the Olympics, perhaps in 2022.

Infrastructure

Railway

Harbin Railway Station, located in the city center

Harbin is the second largest railway hub in Northeast China, only after Shenyang. Harbin Railway-Bureau is the first Railway Bureau in People's Republic of China, 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 line linking Dalian. In 2009, construction began on the new Harbin West Railway Station with 18 platforms, located on the southwestern outskirts 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.

The new Harbin West Railway Station, opened in 2012

The city's main railway stations are the Harbin Railway Station, which was first built in 1899 and expanded in 1989; the Harbin East Railway Station, which opened in 1934; and the Harbin West Railway Station, which was built into the city's high-speed railway station in 2012. As of 26 January 2013, Harbin Railway Station had 202 trains arriving daily, Harbin West had 70 trains and Harbin East had 60.

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. According to 2011 statistics, Harbin Railway Station's person flow volume has reached 27,898,500 person-time, ranking fifth in China after Beijing West, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

Highway

Harbin has an advanced system of highways. Food and other products are shipped on these roads.

There are seven important highways which pass through or terminate in Harbin, including the Beijing-Harbin, the Heihe-Dalian, the Harbin–Tong River, Changchun-Harbin, and the Manzhouli–Suifen River highways.

A part of the newly inaugurated 15-km long Yangmingtan Bridge spanning the Songhua River collapsed on 24 August 2012, killing three.

• China National Highway 221

Airport

Main article: Harbin Taiping International Airport

Harbin Taiping International Airport, which is 35 kilometers away from the urban area of Harbin, is the second largest international airport in Northeast China. It is the largest northernmost airport of China and its terminal building (along with Shenyang-Taoxian Airport) is currently one of the largest in northeastern 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, Tianjing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Dalian, Xi'an and Hong Kong. In addition there are also scheduled international flights between Harbin and USA, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea.

Subway

Construction of Harbin Subway started on 5 December 2006. The total investment for the first phase is RMB5.89 billion. Twenty stations will be set on this 17.73 km (11.02 mi) long line starting from Harbin East Railway Station to the 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University in the west of the city. A subway depot, a command center and two transformer substations will be built along the line. Most of the subway'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.

Picture Reference: "7381" Project, a Civil Defense System in Harbin Harbin Subway Map, Line 1

Ports and waterways

There are more than 1,900 rivers in Heilongjiang, including the Songhua River, Heilong River 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

The main building of Harbin Institute of Technology. Note the Stalinist "tier-cake" façade, reminiscent of the Seven Sisters in Moscow.

Harbin Xinhua Bookstore.

As Harbin serves as an important military industrial base after PRC's foundation, it is home to several key universities and colleges in China, including Harbin Institute of Technology and Harbin Engineering University (former department of Shipbuilding Engineering of Harbin Military Academy of Engineering). Soviet experts played an important role in plenty of education projects in this period. However, due to the possible war with the Soviet Union, several colleges were moved southwards to Changsha, Chongqing and several other southern cities in China in the 1960s. Some of these colleges were removed to Harbin in the 1970s. These universities mainly focus on the science and technology service of national defense and aerospace industry.

• Northeast Forestry University
• Harbin Institute of Technology
• Harbin Engineering University (former Harbin Shipbuilding Engineering Institute)
• Heilongjiang University
• Harbin Jewish Research Center
• Harbin Medical University
• Harbin Normal University
• Harbin University of Science and Technology
• Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine
• Heilongjiang Institute of Technology
• Heilongjiang East College
• Northeast Agricultural University
• Harbin Advance Technical College
• Harbin University of Commerce

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in China

Twin towns and sister cities

Harbin is twinned with:

Domestic

• Chengdu, Sichuan
• Dalian, Liaoning
• Guangzhou, Guangdong
• Hangzhou, Zhejiang
• Wenzhou, Zhejiang
• Xiamen, Fujian
• Xining, Qinghai
• Nanjing, Jiangsu

International

Niigata, Japan, since 1979 Aarhus, Denmark, since 1984 Edmonton, Canada, since 1985 Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, since 1991 Minneapolis, United States, since 1992 Chiang Mai, Thailand, since April 29, 2008 Anchorage, United States Ekhuruleni, South Africa Warsaw, Poland, since 1993

Daugavpils, Latvia Khabarovsk, Russia Ploieşti, Romania Asahikawa, Japan Bucheon, South Korea Salvador, Brazil Giv'atayim, Israel Griffith, New South Wales, Australia Krasnodar, Russia

Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, since 2007 Rovaniemi, Finland Magdeburg, Germany, since 2008 Krasnoyarsk, Russia, since 2008 Wiener Neustadt, Austria Yakutsk, Russia, since 2008 Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom (2009) Fairfax County, Virginia, United States (2010) Chelyabinsk, Russia (2012)

See also

• Harbin Ferris Wheel
• List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population
• List of current and former capitals of subnational entities of China

References

• Thomas Lahusen. Harbin and Manchuria: Place, Space, and Identity. November 15, 2001. ISBN 0-8223-6475-1.
• 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, January 1, 2003. ISBN 3110962799, 9783110962796.
  • Also available at (Archive) 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. ISBN 3598218370, 9783598218378.

Further reading

• Meyer, Mike, "Manchuria Under Ice", Departures Magazine, Nov/Dec 2006, 292–297.
• Nikos Kavvadias, a popular Greek poet born in Harbin by Greek parents from Kefalonia, Greece
• Jan, Michel, "Cruelle est la terre des frontières", Payot, Paris, 2006 (in French).

External links

• Harbin Government website
• Harbin Ice Festival website
• Harbin travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Harbin City Photo Gallery