Atlas of China
Heilongjiang 黑龙江Hēilóngjiāng
Ice-lantern winters, Russian-era domes and forests toward the Amur River
- Type
- Province
- Capital
- Harbin
- Featured places
- 3
- Cities and prefectures
- 13
- Listed sites
- 1477 rated 5A · 120 rated 4A · 32 national heritage
About Heilongjiang
China's northernmost province lives with long, hard winters, and Harbin turns the cold into spectacle each year with a festival of illuminated ice and snow architecture. The city's green-domed Saint Sophia Cathedral and the old façades of Central Street recall its beginnings as a Russian-built railway town. In summer, travellers head for the Zhalong wetlands, home to rare red-crowned cranes, and the deep forests that run north to the Amur River.
Heilongjiang at a glance
- Area
- 454,800 km²
- Population
- 31.9 million 2020
- Highest point
- Datudingzi Mountain 大秃顶子山1,690 m
- Borders
- Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Russia
Area, population and highest point from Wikidata; the population is the latest census or official estimate there.
What to eat in Heilongjiang
- Guobaorou sweet-and-sour pork (锅包肉)
- Harbin red sausage (红肠)
- Pork and glass noodle stew (猪肉炖粉条)
Places to visit in Heilongjiang
-
Harbin Ice & Snow World 哈尔滨冰雪大世界
Full-size castles of river ice, glowing with colour through Harbin's deep-freeze winter
-
China Snow Town (Xuexiang) 雪乡
A forest-farm village under thick caps of sticky snow, busy, commercial and very cold
-
Central Street & St Sophia Cathedral 中央大街与圣索菲亚教堂
A cobbled pedestrian street of Russian-era façades and a green-domed Orthodox cathedral
Listed sites in Heilongjiang
147 sites in Heilongjiang are on the official lists, 7 of them rated 5A and 32 protected as national heritage. They are listed by city, with what each is and how to get there.
All 147 listed sites in HeilongjiangCities and prefectures of Heilongjiang
- Da Hinggan Ling 大兴安岭 Prefecture · Jiagedaqi
Boreal forest and record cold at China's northern tip - Daqing 大庆 City
China's oil capital, ringed by lakes, marshes and hot springs - Harbin 哈尔滨 City
A railway city of onion domes, whose winter is carved from river ice - Hegang 鹤岗 City
A coal city between two rivers, facing Russia's Jewish Autonomous Oblast - Heihe 黑河 City
Facing Blagoveshchensk across the Amur, with volcanoes inland - Jiamusi 佳木斯 City
Where the Amur meets the Ussuri, at China's far eastern edge - Jixi 鸡西 City
Korean cold noodles, a Japanese fortress and the shores of Lake Khanka - Mudanjiang 牡丹江 City
Lava-dammed Jingpo Lake, a lost Bohai capital and Russian rail towns - Qiqihar 齐齐哈尔 City
Red-crowned cranes in the Zhalong marsh, and a city famous for barbecue - Qitaihe 七台河 City
A coal town that became the cradle of Olympic short-track skaters - Shuangyashan 双鸭山 City
The far-eastern coal city whose Ussuri shore is Hezhe country - Suihua 绥化 City
Black-soil farmland and dairy herds on the Songnen plain - Yichun 伊春 City
Korean pine forest, granite pillars and dinosaur bones on the Amur
Before you go
- Visas and visa-free entry Can I visit China without a visa?
- Paying for things How do I pay for things in China without a Chinese bank account?
- Internet and apps Will Google and my other apps work in China?
- Trains and 12306 How do I book train tickets in China with a foreign passport?
- Book popular sights early Which sights in China need booking in advance, and how?
- When to go When is the best time to visit China?
On the map
Open Heilongjiang on the illustrated map to see where its places sit, how far apart they are, and to add them to a trip.
Open Heilongjiang on the map