Harbin

Harbin
哈尔滨
ᡥᠠᡵᠪᡳᠨ
—  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 province (orange) and China
Coordinates:
Country China
Province Heilongjiang
County-level divisions 19
Government
 - Secretary Municipal Committee of the CPC Gai Ruyin 盖如垠 (since August , 2009)
 - Mayor Zhang Xiaolian 张效廉 (since February, 2007)
Area
 - Sub-provincial city 53,068 km2 (20,489.7 sq mi)
 - Urban 7,086 km2 (2,735.9 sq mi)
Elevation 150 m (488 ft)
Population
 - Sub-provincial city 9,873,743
 - Density 186.1/km2 (481.9/sq mi)
 - Urban 4,754,753
 - Urban density 671/km2 (1,737.9/sq mi)
Time zone China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Postal code 150000
Area code(s) 451
License plate prefixes 黑A
GDP (2008) CNY 286.82 billion
 - per capita CNY 29,012
Website www.harbin.gov.cn
Harbin
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 哈爾濱
Simplified Chinese 哈尔滨
Literal meaning a place for drying fishing nets or
laughter like coast
Manchu name
Manchu ᡥᠠᡵᠪᡳᠨ
Russian name
Russian Харби́н

Harbin (simplified Chinese: 哈尔滨; traditional Chinese: 哈爾濱; pinyin: Hāěrbīn; Wade–Giles: Ha-erh-pin; Mandarin pronunciation: [xɑ˥˥ɑɻ˩pin˥˥]; Russian Харби́н), is a sub-provincial city and the capital of the Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China. It lies on the southern bank of the Songhua River. Harbin is the tenth largest city in China (pop. 9.87 million), serving as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural and communications hub in Northeastern China.

Harbin is originally a Manchu word meaning "a place for drying fishing nets". Harbin has very cold winters and is often called "Ice City". Harbin is well-known for its beautiful ice sculptures in winter and plays an important part in China's trade with Russia. In the 1920s, Harbin was considered China's fashion capital as new designs from Paris and Moscow reached there first before arriving in Shanghai.[1] Harbin is also a potential candidate for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Contents

History

Human settlement in the Harbin area dates from at least 2200 BC (late Stone Age). It was formerly called Pokai.

The modern city of Harbin originated in 1898 from a small village, with the start of the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway (KVZhD) by Russia, an extension of the Trans-Siberian Railway, shortcutting substantially the distance to Vladivostok and creating a link to the port city of Dalny (Dalian) and the Russian Naval Base Port Arthur.

Following the Russian defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5), 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 also established their own businesses in brewing, food and the textile industry. Harbin had established its status as the center of northeastern China and as an international metropolis.

In December 1918, during the Russian Civil War, defeated Russian White Guards and refugees retreated to the city: it then became a major centre of White Russian émigrés. The city became the largest Russian enclave outside Russia. The Jewish community was formed by Russian Jews and 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.

With the establishment of Manchukuo, Japanese troops occupied Harbin on 4 February 1932. The city became main base of operations of the infamous Unit 731 which was responsible for some of the most grisly war atrocities in human history. In 1935 the Soviet Union sold the 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

The eight Harbin counties 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.

Harbin once housed one of the largest Jewish communities in the far-east. It reached its peak in the mid 1920's when 20,000 European Jews lived in the city. Among them were the parents of Ehud Olmert, the former Prime-minister of Israel. In 2004 Ehud Olmert came to Harbin with an Israeli trade delegation to visit the grave of his grandfather.

A benzene plant situated upstream in the city of Jilin 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."[2]

Administrative divisions

The sub-provincial city of Harbin has direct jurisdiction over 8 districts (区 qu), 3 county-level cities (市 shi) and 7 Counties (县 xian). On August 15, 2006, Dongli District (动力区) merged with Xiangfang District (香坊区).

Harbin mcp.png
# Name Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin Population (2003 est.) Area (km²) Density (/km²)
1 Daoli District 道里区 Dàolǐ Qū 670,000 479 1,399
2 Nangang District 南岗区 Nángǎng Qū 990,000 183 5,410
3 Daowai District 道外区 Dàowài Qū 610,000 257 2,374
4 Xiangfang District 香坊区 Xiāngfáng Qū 710,000 340 2,088
5 Pingfang District 平房区 Píngfáng Qū 160,000 94 1,702
6 Songbei District 松北区 Sōngběi Qū 190,000 736 258
7 Hulan District 呼兰区 Hūlán Qū 620,000 2,186 284
8 Acheng District 阿城区 Àchéng Qū 650,000 2,770 235
9 Shuangcheng City 双城市 Shuāngchéng Shì 810,000 3,112 260
10 Shangzhi City 尚志市 Shàngzhì Shì 620,000 8,895 70
11 Wuchang City 五常市 Wǔcháng Shì 970,000 7,512 129
12 Yilan County 依兰县 Yīlán Xiàn 390,000 4,672 83
13 Fangzheng County 方正县 Fāngzhèng Xiàn 230,000 2,993 77
14 Bin County 宾县 Bīn Xiàn 620,000 3,846 161
15 Bayan County 巴彦县 Bāyàn Xiàn 700,000 3,138 223
16 Mulan County 木兰县 Mùlán Xiàn 270,000 3,602 75
17 Tonghe County 通河县 Tōnghé Xiàn 230,000 5,755 40
18 Yanshou County 延寿县 Yánshòu Xiàn 270,000 3,226 84

Geography

Harbin is located in southern Heilongjiang, on the southeastern edge of the Songnen Plain (松嫩平原). The city centre also sits on the southern bank of the middle Songhua River. As the prefecture is rather large, its latitude ranges from 44°04′-46°40′, the longitude 125°42′-130°10. Neighbouring prefectures are Yichun to the north, Jiamusi and Qitaihe to the northeast, Mudanjiang to the southeast, Daqing to the west，and Suihua to the northwest. In the southwest is Jilin Province. The terrain of the city is generally flat, with an average elevation of around 150 metres (490 ft).

Climate

Harbin
Climate chart ()
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 [3]

Under the Köppen climate classification, Harbin features a humid continental climate with hot, humid summers and very cold winters. Harbin's nickname of the "Ice City" is well-earned. Its winters brutally cold and at times windy, as the average monthly high in January only reaches −12.3 °C (10 °F). However, the city is dry and sunny during winter. Both spring and especially fall constitute short transition seasons. Summer is very warm, with an average monthly high temperature in July soaring to 28.0 °C (82 °F). The annual precipitation, at 524 mm (20.6 in), is heavily concentrated from May to September, as evidenced by July's total of 142.7 mm (5.62 in).

Climate data for Harbin (1971-2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Source: China Meteorological Administration [3]

Economy

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.[4]

In 2008, Harbin's GDP reached RMB286.82 billion, an increase of 13.2 percent over the previous year. Tertiary industry output remained the largest component of GDP reaching RMB140.04 billion, an increase of 13.9 percent from the previous year. The total value for imports and exports by the end of 2008 was US$3.64 billion.[5]

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, foodstuff, 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.[6]

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.[7]

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. Last year, research funding from the government, industry, and business sectors surpassed RMB1.13 billion, the second highest of any university in China.[8]

Harbin Skyline 2008.png

Economic Development Zones and Ports[9]

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.[10]

Infrastructure

Harbin is one of the largest railway hubs in Northeast China. Five major railways (Jingha, Binsui, Binzhou, Binbei and Labin) meet here. Currently 138 trains terminate in or pass through Harbin daily, with trains available to Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Jinan and many other major cities in China.[11]

The Harbin Taiping International Airport is the second largest international airport in Northeast China. There are flights to/from more than 30 large and medium-sized cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong.[12]

There are more than 1,900 rivers in Heilongjiang, including the Songhua River, Heilongjiang River and Wusulijiang 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.[13]

Architecture

Saint Sofia Church

Called the Oriental St. Petersburg, Harbin is considered one of China's most beautiful cities. The city is well-known for its unique, Russian and European-influenced architecture.

Zhong Yang Street (Central Street, also known as Kitaiskaya St.), 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. The 1.4-km long street is a veritable museum of European architectural styles: Baroque and Byzantine façades, little Russian bakeries, French fashion houses, 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. It has now been made into a museum as a showcase of the multi-cultural 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 one (Church of the Intercession in Harbin).

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, and customs. Harbin is famous for its standard Mandarin pronunciation, and is therefore considered a very good place to study Mandarin. As the saying goes, 'If you want to study Chinese, go to China. If you want to study Mandarin, go to Beijing. If you want to study standard Mandarin, go to Harbin.'

Russian influence

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, economic 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. 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 (lie-ba in local dialect, derived from the Russian word khleb for "bread"). Harbin's sausages (qiu-lin hong-chang) are another notable product, in that they tend to be of a much more European flavour than other Chinese sausages.

Winter culture

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 degrees Celsius, −16.8 degrees Celsius 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 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 ice. Winter activities in the festival include Yabuli Alpine Skiing, winter-swimming in Songhua River, and the ice-lantern exhibition in Zhaolin Garden. Snow carving and ice and snow recreations are world famous.

The "Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival" is one of the world's four largest ice and snow festivals, 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 Nashville, Tennessee; Kissimmee, Florida; and Grapevine, Texas.

Winter sports

The third Winter Asian Games took place in Harbin in 1996. The city of Harbin 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.

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[14] and 2010 Vancouver Olympics figure skating gold medalists Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo.

'Ice and Snow World' in Harbin

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.

Transportation

Hua Yuan Street (Garden Street) in the Nangang district

Railway

Harbin Railway-Bureau is the first one in Chinese History, of which the railway density is the highest in China. Harbin Railway Station is one of the three modernized railway-networks.

Highway

Harbin has an advanced system of highways. Food and other products are shipped on these roads. The highways in Harbin have a big impact on the way of life, despite the fact that most are tolled.

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.[15]

Airport

Harbin Taiping International Airport serves Harbin and is an important transportation hub for northeastern 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 cities including Beijing, Tianjing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Dalian, Xi'an and Hong Kong. In addition there are also scheduled flights between Harbin and Hong Kong, Russia 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 14.4 km 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 follow the air defence evacuation Tunnel left from the World War II.

Ports and Waterways

There are more than 1,900 rivers in Heilongjiang, including the Songhua River, Heilongjiang River and Wusulijiang 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 (Russia).[15]

Colleges and universities

The main building of Harbin Institute of Technology.
Harbin Xinhua Bookstore.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Harbin is twinned with:

Domestic

International

See also

References

  1. ↑ China Briefing Business Guide: Harbin
  2. ↑ "Harbin: Truth emerges after secrecy". BBC News. 2005-11-23. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4464030.stm. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System" (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. http://cdc.cma.gov.cn/shuju/index3.jsp?tpcat=SURF&dsid=SURF_CLI_CHN_MUL_MMON_19712000_CES&pageid=3. Retrieved 2009-03-17. 
  4. ↑ China Briefing Business Guide: Harbin Economy 1
  5. ↑ China Briefing Business Guide: Harbin Economy 2
  6. ↑ China Briefing Business Guide: Harbin Economy 3
  7. ↑ China Briefing Business Guide: Harbin Economy 4
  8. ↑ China Briefing Business Guide: Harbin Economy 5
  9. ↑ China Briefing Business Guide: Harbin Economic Development Zone
  10. ↑ RightSite.asia | Harbin New & Hi-Tech Industrial Zone
  11. ↑ China Briefing Business Guide: Harbin Infrastructure 1
  12. ↑ China Briefing Business Guide: Harbin Infrastructure 2
  13. ↑ China Briefing Business Guide: Harbin Infrastructure 3
  14. ↑ http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=2466/bio/index.html
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Dezan Shira & Associates". Dezan Shira & Associates. 2009. http://www.dezshira.com. Retrieved 2009-02-08. 
  16. ↑ "Miasta partnerskie Warszawy". um.warszawa.pl. Biuro Promocji Miasta. 2005-05-04. http://um.warszawa.pl/v_syrenka/new/index.php?dzial=aktualnosci&ak_id=3284&kat=11. Retrieved 2008-08-29. 
  17. ↑ Harbin and Yakutsk will be sister cities
  18. ↑ [1]
  19. ↑ [2]

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