Harbin

Harbin is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban population (after Shenyang, Liaoning province) and largest metropolitan population (urban and rural regions together) in Northeast China. Harbin has direct jurisdiction over nine metropolitan districts, two county-level cities and seven counties, and 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) had 5,841,929 inhabitants, while the total metropolitan population was 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.

Several different etymologies have been offered for the city's name. The city government says the name means "swan" in the Jurchen language, and other sources says that it comes from a Manchu word meaning "a place for drying fishing nets". 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. 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. From 1932 until 1945, Harbin was the largest city in the Imperial Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Being well known for its historical Russian legacy and architecture, the city is famed for its European influence 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. The city hosts several major universities in Northeast China, including Harbin Engineering, Harbin Medical, Northeast Agricultural, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin Normal, Northeast Forestry, and Heilongjiang. Notably, Harbin Institute of Technology is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in the world for engineering.

Harbin was voted "China Top Tourist City" by the China National Tourism Administration in 2004. Known for its bitterly cold winters, Harbin is heralded as the Ice City (冰城) for its winter tourism and recreations. Harbin is notable for its ice sculpture festival in the winter. The city has hosted the 1996 Winter Asian Games, the 2009 Winter Universiade, and the 2025 Asian Winter Games.