Harbin, China

Harbin is the capital city of Heilongjiang province in northeast China. It is within 600 kilometers of Russia and lies on the banks of the Songhua River. The word 'harbin' means place for drying fish nets and the flat banks of the river suggest this was an appropriate name. We learned there have been several major floods of the river and one of the grad student's grandmother helped with sandbagging during one in the 1950s (photo is of flood memorial).

Heilongjiang means Black Dragon River from the Amur (Heilong) River, the northern border between China and Russia. The story is that a white dragon ruled this area and was cruel and wicked. The black dragon arrived and they fought for the land and the black one, good in nature, won.

The Songhua River, which means White River, is about 1500 km long and is a tributary of the Heilong. Its source is in the mountains that border North Korea and has several dams along its length used to generate electricity. The river freezes in the winter which might be the reason for its name.

Harbin is a big city of about 6 million people and has been a twin city for Edmonton, Alberta since 1985. It is famous for its ice sculpture festival in the winter. It was also an important trade city during the 1920s. European goods from Russia flowed through the city and into the rest of China. It began as a village founded by an engineer who worked on the China Eastern Railway, a part of the Trans-Siberian Railway. As it grew, it became an industrial centre and at one point, had the largest population of Russian Jews outside of Russia. They were a big influence on the architecture of the city.

Harbin is nicknamed Ice City because of its cold winters (average January temperature of -18ºC) but its summers are hot and humid (average July temperature of 24ºC).

The city has light industry although you'd never know that by the air quality. Although not as bad as Beijing, it did make breathing a chore. The soil surrounding the city is rich and they grow mostly grain crops, including rice.

Harbin Brewery is the oldest in China, founded in 1900, and is a source of pride. There are also seven universities in the city, the oldest being Harbin Institute of Technology. Glen's conference was held in the Harbin Medical University and we stayed at the Best Western Fortune Hotel Harbin.