Harbin Travel Guide

Chinese Character: ; Chinese Pinyin: ha er bin

Located in eastern Songnen plain, it's a rolling land with low hills, and shallow valleys and crossed by the Songhua River. It has a semi-humid temperate climate with an annual average temperature of 3.5 degree Celsius, rainfall of 530 millimeters and a frost-free period of 140 days. Its mineral resources are coal, quartzite, marble, copper, lead and zinc etc.

Harbin is one of China's key industrial bases, with machine building industry as its main stay. Foodstuff, petroleum, chemicals and textiles are its important prop-ups. The output value of its pharmaceutical industry ranks first in China. The main agricultural products are wheat, soybean, beet, flax, tobacco, poultry, etc. It's among China's major beet growing areas.

Harbin is the commercial center of Heilongjiang Province as well as the communication hub in the northern part of North-East China, with a well-developed railway and highway network. It has regular air links with over 30 cities at home and abroad. The Songhua River is an important waterway for shipping.

Harbin is also a famous historical and cultural city, reputed by tourists as "Ice Town". Winter and summer are most fascinating seasons to tourists. It is renowned for the annual "Ice and Snow Festival" in January.

The houses in Harbin can be classified as "European Classic Style", "Russian Wooden Structures" and "Scenic Architecture with fairy-tale features".

Harbin is aiming at building up an international economic and trade city in north-east Asia with manufacturing and processing, trade, finance communication, information, science, education and economic cooperation as its chief functions.