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Harbin (Simplified: 哈尔滨, Traditional: 哈爾濱, pinyin: hā'ĕrbīn, Russian Харби́н Kharbin) is a sub-provincial city in north-east China and the capital of the Heilongjiang Province. It lies on the southern bank of Songhua River. Harbin is a thriving industrial city .It is also the political, economic, scientific, cultural and communications mecca of Northeast China. Harbin is known as one of the major cities in China and Northeast Asia.
Harbin bears the nickname " The Pearl on the swan's neck" because the shape of Heilongjiang resembles a swan. " Oriental Moscow" or "Oriental Paris" for the architecture in the city. " Ice City" for its long and cold winter.
8 districts:
4 county-level cities:
7 counties:
Human settlement in the Harbin area dates from at least 2200 BC (late Stone Age). It is formerly Pinkiang.
The modern city of Harbin originated in 1898 with the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway by Russia. In December 1918, during the Russian Civil War, Russian White Russian émigrés.
Following the Russian defeat in the Russian-Japanese War (1904-5), Russia's influence declined, and 160,000 nationals from 33 countries including the United States, Germany, and France moved to Harbin. Sixteen countries established consulates and set up several thousand industrial, commercial and banking companies in Harbin. The Chinese also established their own businesses in brewing, foodstuffs and the textile industry. Harbin had established its status as the center of northeastern China and as an international metropolis.
Japanese troops occupied Harbin from February 4, 1932. The Soviet Army took the city on 20 August 1945. After a period under the control of the Kuomintang, the city came into the hands of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in April 1946.
The eight Harbin counties originally formed part of Songhuajiang Prefecture (松花江地区), and became incorporated into Harbin on August 11, 1999, making Harbin a prefecture-level city.
Called the Oriental Moscow, Harbin is one of China's more beautiful cities. The city is well-known for its unique, Russian-influenced architecture.
Zhong Yang Street (Central 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. The 1.4km long street is a veritable museum of European architectural styles, including Baroque and Byzantine facades, little Russian bakeries, French fashion houses, American snack food outlets, Japanese restaurants, and a Christian church. Many citizens believe that the Christian church damaged the local feng shui, so they donated money to build a Chinese monastery, the Ji Le Temple.
Harbin is one of the sources of ice and snow culture in the world. Geographically, it 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. It can be as cold as - 38.1 degrees Celsius in winter.
The annual "Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival" has been held since 1985. It starts from January 5th and will last for one month. There will be ice lantern park touring activities held in many parks in the city. Winter activities in the fastival includes Yabuli Alpine Skiing, winter-swimming in Songhua River, ice-lantern exhibition in Zhaolin Garden, ect. 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 Winter Carnival, and Norway's Ski Festival.
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