General Introduction

Lying in the northernmost part of northeast China, Heilongjlang Province is the province with the longest winters and -- with its vast expanses of flatland and wide areas of fertile black soil--one of China's major commodity grain growers. Named after its largest river, Heilongjiang has a total area of more than 460,000 square kilometres, of which, like Liaoning Province, 60 per cent are mountains, 10 per cent rivers and 30 per cent farmland. Its land area includes the country's largest oil reserve, 2,500 million tons. Of its population of 32.04 million, 31.5 per cent live in the cities and 68.5 per cent in the countryside. There are 1.4 million people from minority nationalities including the Manchus, Koreans, Huis, Mongolians, Daurs, Hezhens, Oroqens and Ewenkis. The bulk of Heilongjiang's population lives in the Songnen Plain and the mining and industrial cities.

Scenic Spots

Jingbo Lake
Wudalianchi


Topography

Roughly speaking, Heilongjiang is high in the north and low in the south. There are, however, some scattered hills in its southernmost part. Its terrain can be divided into four zones: 1) The Lesser Hinggan and Yilehuli mountain areas in the north generally exceed 1,000 metres in elevation, with rounded hills and broad, flat-bottomed valleys. There are intermittent volcanic eruptions in some of the sections of the Lesser Hinggan Mountains. 2) The Songnen Plain in the central part belongs to the northern section of the Northeast plain. Formed of the black, fertile erosion and alluvial soil of the Songhua and Nenjiang rivers, it is the principal farming area in Heilongjiang. 3) The Sanjiang Plain at the northeastern tip has a low-lying terrain studded with swamps and marshes. Formed of the silt deposits of the Heilong, Songhua and Wusuli rivers, it has vast areas of wasteland, part of which has been turned into large, mechanized grain-producing farms. 4) The Southeast Mountain Area south of the Songhua River is part of the Eastern Mountain Area of northeast China, with the Zhangguangcailing and Laoyeling mountains as the main ranges.

Heilongjiang has five large river systems: the Heilong, Songhua, Wusuii, Nenjiang and Suifen rivers. There are 1,741 larger waterways with trunk channels totalling 4,907 kilometres. Large lakes include the Greater and Lesser Xingkai, Jingbo and Wudalianchi. The province has an annual flow of 93,600 million cubic metres and a hydroelectric power potential of 7.15 million kilowatts.

Climate

Heilongjiang has a cold-temperate continental climate and a mean annual temperature of 3ºC to -2ºC, an ice-bound period of 5-6 months, a frost-free period of 120 days and a mean annual precipitation of 550 mm. It has warm, rainy summers with long hours of sunshine favourable to crop growth.


Communications

Railway is the principal means of transport in Heilongjiang, with Harbin as the general clearing-house. The length of railways open to traffic is 5,513 kilometers and that of highways 46,000 kilometers. Heilongjiang has the most developed inland shipping among the northern provinces. The Heilong and Songhua rivers are the main waterways in the province's navigable length of 5,137 kilometers.