Heilongjiang (Chinese: 黑龙江; pinyin: Hēilóngjiāng; literally: "Black Dragon River") is a province in northeastern China, bordering Russia. In the past, it was part of the historical region of Manchuria. Currently, it is part of the Dongbei (Northeast) geographic region of China. The administrative center and largest city is Harbin. Other major cities are Qiqihar, Suihua, Daqing, and Mudanjiang. According to the 2020 census, 31.85 million people lived in Heilongjiang.
Heilongjiang borders Jilin Province, Inner Mongolia and Russia.
Harbin (哈尔滨市),
Qiqihar (齐齐哈尔市),
Heihe (黑河市),
Daqing (大庆市),
Yichun (伊春市),
Hegang (鹤岗市),
Jiamusi (佳木斯市),
Shuangyashan
(双鸭山市),
Qitaihe (七台河市),
Jixi (鸡西市),
Mudanjiang (牡丹江市),
Suihua (绥化市),
AAAAA Grade
Sunny Island Park (Harbin)
Jingbohu Lake Scenic
Area (Mudanjiang)
Wudalianchi Scenic Area (Heihe)
AAAA Grade
Yabuli Ski Resort (Shangzhi)
Erlongshan Mountain Scenic Area (Harbin,
Binxian County)
Jinyuan Cultural and Tourism Area (Acheng)
Zhalong
Nature Reserve (26 km southeast of Qiqihar)
Heilongjiang Radio and TV
Tower (Dragon Tower) (Harbin)
Wang Jinxi Memorial Museum (Daqing)
Wuying National Forest Park (suburb of Yichun)
Hoshankou National
Forest Park (suburb of Ning'an)
Mingyue Island Scenic Area (Qiqihar)
Sophia Square Architectural Complex (Harbin)
Heilongjiang Science and
Technology Museum (Harbin, Taiyangdao Island)
Shilin Scenic Area
(Stone Forest) of Tangwanhe Forestry Bureau (Yichun)
National
Dinosaur Geological Park (Jiayin County, Yichun City)
Oilfield
History Museum (Daqing)
Pingshan Mountain Tourist Area (Acheng,
Shenlu Ski Resort)
Harbin Polar Aquarium
Harbin North Zoo
Harbin Culture and Leisure Park
Xuexiang Tourist Area (Snow Village)
(Hailin)
Polar Village Tourist Area (Mohe County, Mohe Town)
Aihui
History Museum (Heihe)
Fortress Ruins (Dongning County)
Lake
Scenic Area Khanka (Mishan)
Harbin Volga Estate (Harbin)
Xiangfang
State Farm Tourist Area (Harbin)
Huilongwan National Forest Park
(Yichun)
Lianshui Tourist Area (Yichun)
Meihuahe Tourist Resort
(Yichun)
Hengdao Northeastern Tiger Park (Mudanjiang)
Anbang
Wetland Park (Shuangyashan)
Daliangheci National Forest Park
(Tangyuan County)
Memorial Ruins of the Anti-Japanese War Fortress
(Hulin, Hutou Township)
Longsha Park (Qiqihar)
Culture has its own regional characteristics. In particular, there is a local style of performance called errenzhuan (二人转) - a type of dance and song duet that is over 300 years old. The genre of dongbei dagu (东北大鼓) comes from northeastern China and consists of songs with a drum. Harbin is home to the Heilongjiang Provincial Library.
"Heilongjiang Provincial Museum"
"Qiqihar Museum"
"Heilongjiang
Music Museum" in Harbin
"Memorial Hall of Revolutionary Martyrs of
Northeast China" in Harbin
"Museum of the Crimes of the "731st Unit"
of the Japanese Invasion of China" in Harbin
"Jin Shangjing History
Museum" in Harbin
"Beidahuang Museum" in Harbin
"Aihui History
Museum" in Heihe
The north-eastern dialect Dōngběihuà differs little from the Beijing Mandarin on which the Higher language based. However, a number of foreign words have been adopted from Russian and the languages of the Mongols and Manchus.
The province is named after the Chinese name for the Amur (Heilongjiang) and literally means "Black Dragon River", which exactly corresponds to the Russian toponym "Priamurye".
The province is located in the Amur River basin, bordering Russia
along the Amur (Zabaykalsky Krai, Amur Oblast, Jewish Autonomous Region)
and Ussuri (Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais) rivers. Heilongjiang
Province borders the Chinese province of Jilin to the south, and the
Chinese Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia to the west. The total
length of the border between Heilongjiang Province and Russia is more
than 3,500 km.
The area of Heilongjiang Province is 454,800
km², which is 4.5% of China's territory.
Continental monsoon climate. The average annual temperature is +4°C. The air temperature decreases from south to north by about 8°C. Summer is hot and there is a lot of precipitation. The abundance of sunny days creates favorable conditions for agriculture and livestock breeding. The region has a high degree of annual solar radiation: 100-120 kilocalories per 1 cm². Strong winds are typical for spring, with the southwest having the largest number of windy days, which creates conditions for wind power.
There are 171 nature reserves in Heilongjiang Province, including 8 in the Ussuri River basin, forming the so-called "green belt".
In the coming years, the Chinese government intends to create 18 more nature reserves in the Amur basin on the territory of the province. A rare plant reserve is being prepared for opening in the Lesser Khingan mountain range, at the confluence of the Songhua River and its tributary Tanwan, where 612 plant species grow. The reserve will also protect 250 species of rare animals, 40 of which are on the verge of extinction.
In connection with the threat from Tsarist Russia, in 1683 the
government of the Qing Empire removed the northwestern lands from the
jurisdiction of the Ninghuta Jiangjun and appointed a separate
Heilongjiang Jiangjun for military control over them. Subsequently,
under the auspices of the Heilongjiang Jiangjun, the following fudutongs
were formed to improve military control over individual territories:
Aigun, Morgen, Qiqihar, Hulunbuir, Hulan, Buteh, Tongkenhe and Khingan.
Initially, the jiangjun headquarters were located in Heilongjiang, but
in 1690 it was moved to Nenjiang, and in 1699 to Qiqihar. In the middle
of the 19th century, the Amur and Primorye regions were annexed to
Russia. Since 1862, the fudutongs were abolished in the territory under
the control of the Heilongjiang jiangjun, and civil administration
structures were introduced: administrations, commissariats, districts
and counties. At the end of the 19th century, the CER passed through
these places, and in 1900 they became a combat zone during the fight
against the Boxer Resistance. In accordance with the agreement on the
construction of the CER, signed on August 27 (September 8), 1896 by the
Chinese envoy to the Russian Empire Xu Zengcheng with the board of the
Russian-Chinese Bank, the territory of the highway was leased for 80
years and was an "alienation zone" managed by the Russian
administration. In 1907, the Heilongjiang jiangjun received the
functions of a military governor of the province, and the territory
under its control was completely transformed in accordance with the
structures of civil administration: a three-level structure of "province
- administrations - counties" was introduced. In 1910-1911, the last
major plague epidemic on the globe occurred here. After the Xinhai
Revolution, the governments were liquidated, and the province was
divided into regions (道), to which the counties were subordinate (in
1928, after the unification of China under the rule of the Kuomintang
party, the division of provinces into regions was abolished, and the
counties began to be subordinate directly to the provincial
authorities).
In 1920, taking advantage of the civil war in
Russia, the Chinese authorities abolished the rights of
extraterritoriality for Russian citizens, and in 1921 the alienation
zone of the CER was transformed into the Special Region of the Eastern
Provinces - a separate special administrative unit within the Republic
of China. In 1926, a separate administrative unit was formed within the
Special Region of the Eastern Provinces - the "Special City of Harbin".
In 1929, Heilongjiang Province became the scene of military
operations between Soviet and Chinese troops during the CER conflict.
In 1931, Manchuria was occupied by Japanese troops, and in 1932, the
puppet state of Manchukuo was formed. On July 1, 1933, the Special City
of Harbin was removed from the Eastern Provinces Special Region and was
merged with the city of Binjiang in Jilin Province and the city of
Songpu in Heilongjiang Province into a new administrative unit, the
"Special City of Harbin", subordinated directly to the government of
Manchukuo.
In 1934, Manchukuo was divided into 15 provinces and 1
special city, and the territory of Heilongjiang Province was divided
into the provinces of Heihe, Sanjiang and Longjiang (in 1939, part of
Longjiang Province was transferred to the newly created province of
Bei'an). The Eastern Provinces Special Region, after the sale of the CER
to the government of Manchukuo, was renamed the North Manchuria Special
Region in 1935, and then completely liquidated; Hailar and Manchuria
remained separate settlements, and the other stations that remained
under the jurisdiction of the Special Region became part of the counties
and aimags in whose territories they were located. In 1945, Manchuria
was liberated by the Soviet Army. After the war, the government of the
Republic of China adopted a program for a new administrative division of
the Northeast, but it was never implemented due to the resumption of the
civil war. In November 1945, the people's governments of Heilongjiang,
Nenjiang, Hejiang, Suining, Songjiang provinces and the city of Harbin
were established. In October 1946, Suining province was transformed into
Mudanjiang Special Region, and in November, Harbin received the status
of a "special city". In 1947, Heilongjiang and Nenjiang provinces were
united into the "United Province of Heilongjiang and Nenjiang"
(abbreviated as Heinen Province), but were soon divided again. In 1947,
the Mudanjiang Special Region was transformed into Mudanjiang Province,
but soon Mudanjiang Province was disbanded and its territory was divided
between Hejiang and Songjiang Provinces. In May 1949, Hejiang Province
was annexed to Songjiang Province, and Nenjiang Province was annexed to
Heilongjiang Province; Harbin became a provincial city of Songjiang
Province. In 1954, Songjiang Province was annexed to Heilongjiang
Province.
In 1969, the main part of the Hulunbuir aimag was
transferred from Inner Mongolia to Heilongjiang Province. In April 1970,
the Oroqen and Mori Dawa Daur Autonomous Khoshuns were removed from the
aimag and transferred to Da Hinggan Ling County. In 1979, the aimag was
returned to Inner Mongolia and restored to its 1969 borders, but the
Jagdachi and Songling districts of the Oroqen Autonomous Khoshun
remained under the control of Da Hinggan Ling County.
The province has a low birth rate (7.35 per 1,000 residents in 2010, almost 1.5 times lower than the national average) and low natural growth (2.32 per 1,000 residents in 2010, more than 4.79 times lower than the national average), so Heilongjiang's population has barely grown since 2005. In 2016, the Chinese government allowed residents of some counties and districts in Heilongjiang Province to have three children. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, the province's population decreased by almost 6.5 million people.
1954 — 12.76 million people
1964 — 20.13 million people
1982 —
32.67 million people
1990 — 35.21 million people
2000 — 36.89
million people
2005 — 38.20 million people
2010 — 38.33 million
people
2020 — 31.85 million people
According to the 2010 PRC population census, the top five ethnic
groups by population in Heilongjiang Province were as follows:
Ethnicity Population Percentage
Han 36,939,181 96.41%
Manchu
748,020 1.95%
Korean 327,806 0.86%
Mongol 125 483 0.33%
hui
101,749 0.27%
Harbin is home to the headquarters of the 78th Army Group of the Northern Military District, the 1st Air Force Flight School, and the Harbin Military Institute of Foreign Languages; Daqing is home to the headquarters of the 78th Army Aviation Brigade.
In 2009, the GDP of Heilongjiang Province was 828.8 billion yuan, an
increase of 11.1% compared to 2008. The share of agriculture, industry
and services in the economy is 13.9%, 47.3%, 38.8% respectively. The
province has large reserves of resources: oil, marble, basalt, graphite,
etc. Coal deposits are the largest in Northeast China. The annual income
from mining is also one of the highest in the country. Heilongjiang is
the largest timber production base in China in terms of forest coverage.
At the same time, the total area of steppe lands is 5.06 million
hectares, which creates favorable conditions for the development of
livestock farming. Four industries accounted for 88.4% of revenue in
2011: mechanical engineering, petrochemicals, energy and food industry,
which reflects the low diversification of the economy.
In
addition, livestock farming, the fish industry and vegetable growing
play a role.
In 2010, 24% of trade turnover between Russia and
China, which amounted to $79.2 billion, came from trade between the
Russian Federation and Heilongjiang Province.
Daqing New and High-tech Industrial Development Zone
Heihe Border
Economic Cooperation Zone
Harbin Economic and Technological
Development Zone
Harbin New and High-tech Industrial Development Zone
Dongying Chinese-Russian Trade Zone
Suifenhe Border Economic
Cooperation Zone
Agriculture has been a priority in Northeast China for the past 250
years. In 1734, 450 hectares of land in the Sanjiang Plain were
converted for military use. Since the early 1950s, large-scale
development of agricultural land has begun. In 1954, the Soviet Union
provided funds for the land development of 20,000 hectares. This
farmland became the first of 177 major projects financed by the USSR to
be mechanized. From then on, the main task was to drain the swamps and
turn them into arable land; by 1956, the area had reached 266,000
hectares. Known as Beidahuang, or the "Great Northern Backwater," it was
developed by soldiers, students, and young people until the late 1970s.
International aid in the form of loans was also provided by Japan
and the World Bank until the 1980s. The development of the industry was
linked to national security. However, many farms ended up in debt, and
questions arose about the profitability of the drained land. By the late
1990s, rice, maize and soybean cultivation had gained promising
importance with the introduction of new methods. In the early 2000s, the
growth in the industry was lower than in other industries and yields
were declining. Wheat production fell significantly. The construction of
an irrigation system helped to increase the yield. From 2006 to 2010,
investment in it amounted to 6.4 billion yuan.
As of 2020, thanks
to afforestation efforts in Heilongjiang Province, the forest cover area
has increased from the previous 46.8% to 47.3%. From 2015 to 2020, the
province carried out afforestation on an area of 388 thousand
hectares, increasing the volume of forest resources from 1.99 billion to
2.24 billion cubic meters. The province has also restored 212,000
hectares of degraded grassland, increasing the vegetation cover of its
grassland by more than 75%.
Heilongjiang is a major soybean
production base in China. The province accounts for more than 40% of the
country's total soybean area and 47% of soybean production. As of the
end of 2022, the total soybean cultivation area exceeded 4.9 million
hectares.
Heilongjiang is also a major grain production base. In
2022, the province's total grain production reached 77.6 million tons,
accounting for 11.3% of the country's total.
“Smart farms” and
“smart villages” are actively developing, where many processes are
automated.
Harbin is the largest industrial center of Heilongjiang Province and
the whole of Northeast China. The city is home to such significant
enterprises as the Avicopter helicopter plant (a division of AVIC
Corporation), the Harbin Electric Corporation power equipment plant, the
Hafei Motor auto assembly plant (a division of Changan Automobile
Corporation), the Harbin Pharmaceutical Group pharmaceutical plant, and
the Harbin Brewery brewery (a division of Anheuser-Busch InBev
Corporation).
The Beiman Special Steel metallurgical plant (a
division of Dongbei Special Steel Corporation) is located in Qiqihar,
and the Heilongjiang Longmay Mining Holding Group coal complex is
located in Hegang.
Heilongjiang has the largest coal reserves in Dongbei - about 23 billion tons. Approximately 97% of electricity generation is based on coal and crude oil. The southwest of the province has favorable conditions for wind power. One of the largest oil fields in China is located in Heilongjiang (Daqing), where an oil refinery is being built. Raw materials will come from Russia, via the Skovorodino-Mohe pipeline.
The Qianjin-Fuyuan railway is 169.4 km long, with a train speed of
120 km per hour, as well as the Jingha Railway. There are 9 airports in
the cities of Harbin, Jiamusi, Qiqihar, Mudanjiang, Heihe, Yichun, Mohe,
Jixi, Daqing. It is planned to build an airport in Suifenhe.
China Railway Harbin Group operates railway lines in Manzhouli and
Suifenhe, through which Chinese goods are delivered to Russia and
Western Europe.
In 2020, 18.9 thousand 5G base stations were
built in Heilongjiang Province.
Ecotourism is of primary importance. The Songhua River and wetlands are the main attractions, visited by 6.1 million people (2011). The most important festivals include the Harbin Ice Sculpture Festival, the Beer Festival, the Harbin Fair, the Harbin Summer Concert, and the Wuhua Mountains. The province is home to one of the ecotourism sites, the World Geological Park. Part of the park is the national natural area "Primeval Crater Forest", located 50 km from Jingbohu Lake. More than 1 million tourists from Russia come to the region annually.
The main foreign trade logistics hubs of the province are the
Suifenhe and Tongjiang railway checkpoints, as well as the Heihe road
checkpoint.
In the first half of 2021, Heilongjiang Province's
foreign trade increased by 18.4% year-on-year to 93.15 billion yuan
(US$14.4 billion). Imports increased by 18.6% to 73 billion yuan, while
exports increased by 17.7% to 20.15 billion yuan. Trade between
Heilongjiang and Russia increased to 59.95 billion yuan (+ 18.4%
year-on-year), accounting for 64.4% of the province's total foreign
trade. Machinery and electronics exports reached 8.72 billion yuan (+
20.9%), accounting for more than 40% of the province's total exports.
Natural gas and crude oil accounted for the bulk of imports. The
province's main foreign trade partners are Russia, the European Union
and Brazil. At the end of 2021, the volume of foreign trade in goods of
Heilongjiang Province with Russia increased by 34.8% year-on-year to
reach 131.34 billion yuan. The province's exports to Russia increased by
13% to 10.69 billion yuan, and imports from Russia increased by 37.2% to
120.65 billion yuan. Russia's share in Heilongjiang Province's foreign
trade turnover reached 65.8%.
At the end of 2022, the volume of
foreign trade in goods of Heilongjiang Province increased by 33%
year-on-year to reach 265.15 billion yuan (39.44 billion US dollars);
exports amounted to 54.56 billion yuan, an increase of 22%, and imports
amounted to 210.59 billion yuan, an increase of 36.2%.
In 2023,
the province's foreign trade volume of goods increased by 12.3%
year-on-year to reach 297.83 billion yuan (about 42 billion U.S.
dollars); the province's imports increased by 5.3% year-on-year to
221.77 billion yuan, and exports increased by 39.4% to 76.06 billion
yuan.
Over the past 50 years, the thickness of the black soil layer in the
fields of northeastern China has decreased by 50%. In 2005, the Songhua
River was polluted with nitrobenzene, which ended up in the Amur River.
Since 2011, the "Program for the Protection of the Ecological
Environment and the Transition to a New Economic Mechanism in the
Forested Regions of the Greater and Lesser Khingan" has been in effect,
promoting afforestation and is designed for 10 years. The forest cover
of these regions should increase to 70%.
The leading research institutions of Heilongjiang Province are Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin Medical University Tumor Hospital, The Fourth Hospital of Harbin Medical University, The First Hospital of Harbin Medical University, The Second Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Northeast Agricultural University (Harbin), Northeast Forestry University (Harbin), The First Affiliated Hospital of Jiamusi University, Heilongjiang University (Harbin), Harbin University of Science and Technology.
In 1928-1929, A. S. Lukashkin discovered six Neolithic sites of the
Anansi culture near Qiqihar. The finds included ceramics with small
convex ornamentation, arrowheads with notches at the base, points,
scrapers with a rounded blade, cores, and knife-shaped plates. Three
Neolithic cultures have been discovered in the Heilongjiang Province:
Anansi (on the Songnen Plain, on both banks of the middle reaches of
the Nenjiang River, around Qiqihar (age - 5-6 thousand years);
Xingkailu (concentrated around the Sanjiang Plain ("three rivers"); age
- 6080 ± 80 years ago, the ceramics are characterized by Amur
wickerwork);
Ingeling (age - 4000 years).
The most ancient
ceramics in Northeast China were discovered by archaeologist Liang Siyun
in the area of the Anansi station. The monuments of the Anansi culture
(Aang'angxi) constitute one archaeological community with the early
Neolithic monuments of the so-called Novopetrovsk "plate culture" on the
Middle Amur. Representatives of the Anansi culture led a sedentary
lifestyle, based primarily on fishing. In the early period Anansi
culture is dominated by fishing and microliths, in the middle period
there are more ceramic products and jade objects, in the late period
polished stone products, bone carving are widespread, the first signs of
early agriculture appear, for example, grain grinders.
A. G.
Malyavkin and K. A. Zheleznyakov examined the Bronze Age sites near the
villages of Baoma, Changlingza, Sifantai, Gaotaizi near Moligai. K. A.
Zheleznyakov studied the sites of the early Iron Age along the lower
reaches of the Ashihei River and in Binxian County (Laoshantou site).
Loose ceramics at the Xiaonanshan site on the left bank of the
Ussuri are usually represented by flat-bottomed vessels with a wide
mouth of a truncated-conical shape and are designed similarly to the
vessels of the Osipovskaya culture of the early Neolithic of the Lower
Amur region.