Heihe

Heihe 黑河市
Prefecture-level city
Heihe (red) in Heilongjiang province (orange)
Heihe Location of the city proper in Heilongjiang
Coordinates: 50°14′42″N 127°28′54″E / 50.24500°N 127.48167°E / 50.24500; 127.48167Coordinates: 50°14′42″N 127°28′54″E / 50.24500°N 127.48167°E / 50.24500; 127.48167
Country	China
Province	Heilongjiang
County-level divisions	6
Government
• Type	Prefecture-level city
• CPC Heihe Secretary	Liu Gang (刘刚)
• Mayor	Zhang Enliang (张恩亮)
Area
• Prefecture-level city	54,390 km2 (21,000 sq mi)
• Metro	1,443 km2 (557 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Prefecture-level city	1,673,898
• Metro	211,313
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	164300
Area code(s)	0456
Licence plates	黑N
ISO 3166-2	cn-23-11
Climate	Dwb
Website	http://www.heihe.gov.cn/

Heihe
"Heihe", as written in Chinese
Chinese name
Chinese	黑河
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hēihé
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡥᡝᡳᡥᡝ
Russian name
Russian	Хэйхэ

Heihe (Chinese: 黑河; pinyin: Hēihé; "Black River") is a prefecture-level city of northern Heilongjiang province, China, located on the Russian border, on the south bank of the Heilong Jiang, across the river from Blagoveshchensk. Heihe has an urban population of about 211,313, while the total population of the prefecture-level city is 1,673,893. In 2015, Heihe had a GDP of RMB 44.78 billion.

Heihe marks the northeast terminus of the Heihe–Tengchong Line, which is sometimes used to divide China into east and west.

Heihe, formerly Aihui or Aigun, is among one of the five oldest cities in Heilongjiang, along with Tsitsihar, Yilan, Acheng and Hulan. Human beings started to settle in Heihe region as early as the Paleolithic Age. Later it became home to local tribes. During the Qing Dynasty, Heihe was the first place troops sent to Heilongjiang were stationed. The predecessor of today's Heihe was the town established by the indigenous Ducher people of the Amur Valley in the mid 1650s. It was established some 30 km (19 mi) south of the modern city site (in today's Aihui District) and was known as Aigun, Heilongjiang, or Saghalien Ula. (The two last names both mean "the Black Dragon River" - the name for the Amur River in Chinese and Manchu, respectively).