Harbin

Harbin^[a] is the capital of Heilongjiang, China, and the largest city of the province—as well as the second largest urban population (after Shenyang, Liaoning province) and the largest metropolitan population (urban and rural regions together) in Northeast China.^[6] Harbin has direct jurisdiction over nine metropolitan districts, two county-level cities, and seven counties. It is the eighth most populous Chinese city according to the 2020 census. The built-up area of Harbin (which consists of all districts except Shuangcheng and Acheng) has 5,841,929 inhabitants, while the total metropolitan population is up to 10,009,854, making it one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. Harbin serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural, and communications hub in Northeast China, as well as an important industrial base of the nation.^[7]

Several different etymologies have been offered for the city's name. The city government says the name means "swan" in the Jurchen language,^[8] and other sources say that it comes from a Manchu word meaning "a place for drying fishing nets".^[7][9] The settlement grew from a small rural fishing village on the Songhua River to become one of the largest cities in Northeast China. Founded in 1898 with the coming of the Russian-built Chinese Eastern Railway, the city first prospered as a settlement inhabited by an overwhelming majority of immigrants from the Russian Empire.^[10] In the 1920s the city was considered China's fashion capital, since new designs from Paris and Moscow reached here first before arriving in Shanghai.^[11] From 1932 until 1945, Harbin was the largest city in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Well known for its historical Russian legacy and architecture, the city is famed for its European influence^[12] and serves as an important gateway in Sino-Russian trade today.

Harbin is one of the top 50 cities and metropolitan areas in the world by scientific research output.^[13] The city hosts several major universities in Northeast China, including Harbin Engineering University, Harbin Medical University, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin Normal University, Northeast Forestry University, and Heilongjiang University.^[14] Notably, Harbin Institute of Technology is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in the world for engineering.^[15]

Harbin was voted "China Top Tourist City" by the China National Tourism Administration in 2004.^[7] Though known for its bitterly cold seasons, Harbin is heralded as the Ice City (冰城) for its winter tourism and recreations,^[16] especially the ice sculpture festival.^[17] The city has hosted the 1996 Winter Asian Games, the 2009 Winter Universiade, and the 2025 Asian Winter Games.

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