Heilongjiang

"Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the more well known western name, Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑 (pinyin: Hēi). The Manchu name of the region is Sahaliyan ula (literally, "Black River"), from which the name of Sakhalin is derived, and the Mongolian name with the same meaning is Qaramörin. It is sometimes spelt "Heilungkiang", especially in older English texts.

Saint Sofia Church

Ancient Chinese records and other sources state that Heilongjiang was inhabited by people such as the Sushen, Buyeo, the Mohe, Balhae, and the Khitan. Mongolic Donghu people lived in Inner Mongolia and the western part of Heilongjiang.[6] Some names are Manchu or Mongolian.[7] The eastern portion of Heilongjiang was ruled by the kingdom of Balhae between the 7th and 10th centuries. The Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234) that subsequently ruled much of north China arose within the borders of modern Heilongjiang.

Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces on a 1734 French map

Heilongjiang as an administrative entity was created in 1683, during the Kangxi era of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, from the northwestern part of the Jilin province.[8] This Heilongjiang Province only included the western part of today's Heilongjiang Province, and was under the supervision of the General of Heilongjiang (Sahaliyan Ula i Jiyanggiyūn) (the title is also translated as the Military Governor of Heilongjiang; jiyanggiyūn is the Manchu reading of the Chinese word 將軍 jiāngjūn; "military leader, general" and is cognate with Japanese shōgun), whose power extended, according to the Treaty of Nerchinsk, as far north as the Stanovoy Mountains. The eastern part of what's today Heilongjiang remained under the supervision of the General of Jilin (Girin i Jiyanggiyūn), whose power reached the Sea of Japan. These areas deep in Manchuria were closed off to Han Chinese migration.

The seal of Heilongjiang General

The original seat of the Military Governor of Heilongjiang, as established in 1683, was in Heilongjiang City (also known as Aigun or Heihe, or, in Manchu, Saghalien Ula), located on the Amur River. However, already in 1690 the seat of the governor was transferred to Nenjiang (Mergen) on the Nen River, and, in 1699, further south to Qiqihar. According to modern historians, the moves may have been driven by supply considerations: Nenjiang and Qiqihar are connected by a convenient waterway (Nen River) with southern Manchuria, whereas accessing Aigun (Heihe) would require either sailing all the way down the Sungari River until its confluence with the Amur and then up the Amur to Heihe, or using a portage over the Lesser Xing'an Mountains between the Nen River valley and the Amur valley. An additional advantage of Qiqihar may have been its location at the junction of a northbound road (to Nenjiang) and a westbound one (to Mongolia), enabling its garrison to defend both against the Russians and the Ölöt Mongols.[9]

Little Qing Military presence existed north of Aigun. According to the 18th- and early-20th-century European sources, and the reports of the Russians in the 1850s, the farthest Qing "advance guard" post was at Ulusu-Modon (Ulussu-Mudan) (Chinese: 乌鲁苏穆丹), near the Amur River's famous S-shaped meander. (The post was actually on the left bank of the river, lost to the Russians in 1860.)

In 1858 and 1860, the Qing government was forced to give up all land beyond the Amur and Ussuri Rivers to the Russian Empire, cutting off the Qing Empire from the Sea of Japan and giving Heilongjiang its present northern and eastern borders. At the same time, Manchuria was opened to Han Chinese migration by the Qing government. By the early twentieth century, due to the Chuang Guandong, the Han Chinese had become the dominant ethnic group in the region.[10]

In 1931, Japanese forces invaded Heilongjiang. In 1932, the Japanese completed their conquest of the province, which became part of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.

In 1945, Japanese forces in Manchuria were defeated by the Soviet Army. During the Chinese Civil War, Soviet forces aided the Chinese communists. Heilongjiang became the first province to be completely controlled by the communists and Harbin the first major city to be controlled by them.

At the beginning of communist rule, Heilongjiang included only the western portion of the present-day province, and had its capital at Qiqihar. The remaining area was the province of Songjiang; its capital was Harbin. In 1954, these two provinces were merged into present-day Heilongjiang. During the Cultural Revolution, Heilongjiang was also expanded to include Hulunbuir League and some other areas previously in Inner Mongolia; this has since mostly been reversed.

Jixi

Heilongjiang is a land of varied topographies. Much of the province is dominated by mountain ranges such as the Greater Khingan Range and Lesser Khingan Range, Zhangguangcai Mountains, Laoye Mountains, and Wanda Mountains. The highest peak is Datudingzi Mountain at 1,690 metres (5,540 ft), located on the border with Jilin province. The Greater Khingan Range contains China's largest remaining virgin forest and is an important area for China's forestry industry.

The east and southwest of the province, which are relatively flat and low in altitude, feature the Muling River, the Naoli River, the Songhua River, the Nen River, and the Mudan River, all tributaries of the Amur, while the northern border forms part of the Amur valley. Xingkai Lake (or Khanka Lake) is found on the border with Russia's Primorsky Krai.

A road and highway proposal was accepted in 2006; the project plans to develop 38,000 kilometres (24,000 miles) of new roads and expand Heilongjiang's total road network to 2,300,000 kilometres (1,400,000 miles).

There are 60 rail lines of around 5,300 kilometres (3,300 miles) including a section of the Asia-Europe Continental Bridge. The Harbin–Dalian High-Speed Railway, completed in 2012, stretches from Harbin, Heilongjiang's capital, to Dalian in Liaoning province via Changchun and Shenyang comprising 23 stops. It is expected to transport 37 million passengers per year by 2020 and 51 million by 2030.

Major airports include Harbin Taiping International Airport, Qiqihar Airport, Mudanjiang Airport, Jiamusi Airport and Heihe Airport. Harbin International Airport is capable of handling six million passengers every year and connects to over 70 domestic and international cities.

Heilongjiang is divided into thirteen prefecture-level divisions: twelve prefecture-level cities (including a sub-provincial city) and one prefecture:

Administrative divisions of Heilongjiang
Harbin Qiqihar Jixi Hegang Shuangyashan Daqing Yichun Jiamusi Qitaihe Mudanjiang Heihe Suihua Daxing'anling Prefecture ☐ Jiagedaqi Dist. & Songling Dist. is de facto subordinate to Daxing'anling Pref. but de jure part of Oroqen Aut. Ban., Inner Mongolia.
Division code[18]	Division	Area in km2[19]	Population 2010[20]	Seat	Divisions[21]
					Districts*	Counties	Aut. counties	CL cities
230000	Heilongjiang Province	454,800.00	38,312,224	Harbin city	54	45	1	21
230100	Harbin city	53,523.50	10,635,971	Songbei District	9	7		2
230200	Qiqihar city	42,205.81	5,367,003	Jianhua District	7	8		1
230300	Jixi city	22,488.46	1,862,161	Jiguan District	6	1		2
230400	Hegang city	14,679.98	1,058,665	Xiangyang District	6	2
230500	Shuangyashan city	26,483.00	1,462,626	Jianshan District	4	4
230600	Daqing city	22,161.00	2,904,532	Sartu District	5	3	1
230700	Yichun city	39,017.00	1,148,126	Yimei District	4	5		1
230800	Jiamusi city	31,528.00	2,552,097	Qianjin District	4	3		3
230900	Qitaihe city	6,221.42	920,419	Taoshan District	3	1
231000	Mudanjiang city	40,233.00	2,798,723	Dong'an District	4	1		5
231100	Heihe city	66,802.65	1,673,898	Aihui District	1	2		3
231200	Suihua city	34,964.17	5,416,439	Beilin District	1	6		3
232700	Daxing'anling Prefecture	46,755.00≈	511,564	Jiagedaqi District** (de facto); Mohe city (de jure)	4**	2		1
Sub-provincial cities * – including Ethnic districts ** – administrative districts not registered under the Ministry of Civil Affairs (not included in the total Districts' count) ≈ – not including territories within Inner Mongolia (if included: 82,928.80 km2 or 32,018.99 sq mi)

Qiqihar

Mudanjiang

(Additional information regarding the last prefecture can be found at Greater Khingan.)

These 13 prefecture-level divisions are subdivided into 128 county-level divisions (65 districts, 20 county-level cities, 42 counties, and one autonomous county). Those are in turn divided into 1,284 township-level divisions (473 towns, 400 townships, 58 ethnic townships, and 353 subdistricts).

Heilongjiang Province People's Government

List of Secretaries of the CPC Heilongjiang Committee:

1. Zhang Qilong (张启龙; 1949–1950)
2. Zhao Dezun (赵德尊; 1950–1953)
3. Feng Jixin (冯纪新; 1953–1954)
4. Ouyang Qin (欧阳钦; 1954–1965)
5. Pan Fusheng (潘复生; 1965–1971)
6. Wang Jiadao (汪家道; 1971–1974)
7. Liu Guangtao (刘光涛; 1977)
8. Yang Yichen (杨易辰; 1977–1983)
9. Li Li'an (李力安; 1983–1985)
10. Sun Weiben (孙维本; 1985–1994)
11. Yue Qifeng (岳岐峰; 1994–1997)
12. Xu Youfang (徐有芳; 1997–2003)
13. Song Fatang (宋法棠; 2003–2005)
14. Qian Yunlu (钱运录; 2005–2008)
15. Ji Bingxuan (吉炳轩; 2008–2013)
16. Wang Xiankui (王宪魁; March 2013 – April 2017)
17. Zhang Qingwei (张庆伟; April 2017 – incumbent)

List of Governors:

1. Yu Yifu (于毅夫; 1949–1952)
2. Zhao Dezun (赵德尊; 1952–1953)
3. Chen Lei (陈雷; 1953–1954)
4. Han Guang (韩光; 1954–1956)
5. Ouyang Qin (欧阳钦; 1956–1958)
6. Li Fanwu (李范五; 1958–1966)
7. Pan Fusheng (潘复生; 1967–1971)
8. Wang Jiadao (汪家道; 1971–1974)
9. Liu Guangtao (刘光涛; February 1977 – December 1977)
10. Yang Yichen (杨易辰; December 1977 – 1979)
11. Chen Lei (陈雷; 1979–1985)
12. Hou Jie (侯捷; 1985–1989)
13. Shao Qihui (邵奇惠; 1989–1994)
14. Tian Fengshan (田凤山; 1994–2000)
15. Song Fatang (宋法棠; 2000–2003)
16. Zhang Zuoji (张左己; 2003 – December 2007)
17. Li Zhanshu (栗战书; December 2007 – August 2010)
18. Wang Xiankui (王宪魁; August 2010 – March 2013)
19. Lu Hao (陆昊; March 2013 – March 2018)
20. Wang Wentao (王文涛; March 2018 – incumbent)

The agriculture of Heilongjiang, heavily defined by its cold climate, is based upon crops such as soybeans, maize, wheat and potatoes.[23][5] Commercial crops grown include beets, flax, sunflowers and even rice.[24]

Heilongjiang is also an important source of lumber for China. Pine, especially the Korean pine and larch are the most important forms of lumber produced in Heilongjiang. Forests are mostly found in the Greater Khingan Mountains and Lesser Khingan Mountains, which are also home to protected animal species such as the Siberian tiger, the red-crowned crane, and the lynx.

Herding in Heilongjiang is centered upon horses and cattle; the province has the largest number of milk cows and the highest production of milk among all the province-level divisions of China.

Petroleum is of great importance in Heilongjiang, and the Daqing oilfields are an important source of petroleum for China. Coal, gold, and graphite are other important minerals to be found in Heilongjiang. Heilongjiang also has great potential for wind power, with potential capacity for 134 gigawatts of power production.[25]

Heilongjiang is part of northeast China, the country's traditional industrial base. Industry is focused upon coal, petroleum, lumber, machinery, and food. Due to its location, Heilongjiang is also an important gateway for trade with Russia. Since a wave of privatization led to the closure of uncompetitive factories in the 1990s, Manchuria has suffered from stagnation. As a result, the government has started the Revitalize Northeast China campaign to deal with this problem, promoting the private sectors as the preferred method of economic reform.

At least five miners were killed after a coal mine fire in Heilongjiang it was reported on 21 September 2008.[26]

Its GDP has been rising steadily since 2003, growing 37% from 2003 to 2007. The value of the private economy reached RMB234 billion in 2006 and accounted for 37.6 percent of the GDP. In that year, the tax revenue from private enterprises hit RMB20.5 billion.

Private enterprises in Heilongjiang led the overall economic growth of the province. Many leading private enterprises have begun to emerge. The province's three major private enterprises, namely the Heilongjiang Sunflower Medicine Ltd, Qitaihe Yidaxin Coal Co., and Heilongjiang Yiyang Group, each contributed more than RMB100 million in tax revenue in 2007.

During the first decade of this century, many private investors were involved in large construction projects in Heilongjiang. In 2006, 928 large projects absorbed private capital of RMB5 million each, and 101 projects attracted RMB100 million each within the province. In line with the central government's policy to revitalize the Northeast, Heilongjiang also restructured its six pillar industries, namely equipment manufacturing, petrochemicals, food processing, energy, pharmaceuticals, and forest and timber processing.

In 2017, Heilongjiang's nominal GDP was 1.62 trillion yuan (ca. US$240 billion), with an annual growth rate of 12.2%. Its per capita GDP was 42,699 yuan (US$6,324). In 2006 the per capita disposable income of urban residents in Heilongjiang reached 11,581 yuan (US$1,667), a rise of 13% from the previous year. The per capita net income of rural residents in the province reached 4,856 yuan (US$700), a rise of 17.5% from 2007.[27]

The majority of Heilongjiang's population is Han Chinese, while other ethnic minorities include the Manchus, Koreans, Mongols, Hui, Xibe, and Hezhen.

Excludes members of the People's Liberation Army in active service.
Source:[42]

Ji Le Temple (Temple of Bliss), a Buddhist temple in Harbin

Most of Heilongjiang's residents are either non-religious or practice Chinese folk religions, including Taoism. Manchu shamanism is practiced by many Manchu people. Chinese Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism have an important presence in the province.

Heilongjiang's culture is part of a culture of Northeast China that is relatively homogeneous across this region, known in Mandarin Chinese as "Dongbei" (the northeast).

Heilongjiag Daily Press Group

Heilongjiang Television and Harbin Economy Radio serve as broadcasters.

A Siberian tiger at Harbin Siberian Tiger Park

Harbin, the provincial capital, is a city of contrasts, with Chinese, Russian, and eclectic worldwide influences clearly apparent. Bukui Mosque, a national heritage site, is the largest glazed-tile building in the province.[43] Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant churches as well as synagogues dot the city.[44]

The long, cold winter is the backdrop for its famed ice sculpture exhibitions. In 2007 already the 8th Ice and Snow World opened to visitors in Harbin. More than 2,000 ice sculptures were on display at the annual event.[45]

Wudalianchi Lakes are a series of five lakes formed between 1719 and 1721 when volcanic eruption shaped one section of a tributary of the Amur into five interconnected lakes. The second lake in particular is renowned for its irregular geological sights. Lake Jingbo, in Ning'an County, is a section of the Mudan River that has been narrowed and shaped by volcanic eruption into a series of sights, including the Diaoshuilou Falls.

The province has a zoological park called "Harbin Siberian Tiger Park".[46]

• Northeast Forestry University
• Harbin Institute of Technology
• Harbin Engineering University
• Northeast Agricultural University
• Harbin University of Science and Technology
• Heilongjiang University
• Heilongjiang International University
• Heilongjiang Institute of Technology
• Harbin Medical University
• Daqing Staff and Workers University
• Northeast Petroleum University
• Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Heilongjiang Commercial University
• Harbin Normal University
• Heilongjiang August First Land Reclamation University
• Qiqihar University

Heilongjiang is in the forefront of promoting winter sports and winter-featured sports industry in China.[47] For example, it is promoting bandy as an Olympic sport.[48]

• Major national historical and cultural sites in Heilongjiang

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heilongjiang.

• Heilongjiang Government website
• Heilongjiang travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Economic profile for Heilongjiang at HKTDC
• Heilongjiang International University