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Tsitsihar

Qiqihar
齐齐哈尔市
Prefecture-level city
Qiqiharskyline4.JPG
Nickname(s): The Crane City (鹤城)
Qiqihar (red) in Heilongjiang (orange)
Qiqihar (red) in Heilongjiang (orange)
Qiqihar is located in Heilongjiang
Qiqihar
Qiqihar
Location of the city centre in Heilongjiang
Coordinates: 47°21′N 123°55′E / 47.350°N 123.917°E / 47.350; 123.917Coordinates: 47°21′N 123°55′E / 47.350°N 123.917°E / 47.350; 123.917
Country China
Province Heilongjiang
County-level divisions 16
towns and townships 156
villages 1361
Established 1125
Municipal seat Jianhua District
Government
 • Type Prefecture-level city
 • CPC Qiqihar Secretary Sun Shen(孙珅)
 • Mayor Li Yugang(李玉刚)
Area
 • Prefecture-level city 42,205.82 km2 (16,295.76 sq mi)
 • Urban 4,039.3 km2 (1,559.6 sq mi)
 • Metro 970.3 km2 (374.6 sq mi)
Elevation 147 m (482 ft)
Population (2010)
 • Prefecture-level city 5,367,003
 • Density 130/km2 (330/sq mi)
 • Urban 1,481,637
 • Urban density 370/km2 (950/sq mi)
 • Metro 979,517
 • Metro density 1,000/km2 (2,600/sq mi)
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code 161000
Area code(s) 0452
GDP CNY 106.58billion
License Plate 黑B
Administrative division code 230200
ISO 3166-2 CN-23-02
Climate Dwa
Website [1]
Qiqihar
Traditional Chinese 齊齊哈爾
Simplified Chinese 齐齐哈尔
Postal Tsitsihar

Qiqihar (simplified Chinese: 齐齐哈尔; traditional Chinese: 齊齊哈爾; pinyin: Qíqíhāěr; Manchu: Cicigar ᠴᡳᠴᡳᡤᠠᡵ) is one of the 13 Larger Municipalities in China, and the second largest city in the Heilongjiang province, China. The built-up (or metro) area made up of Longsha, Tiefeng and Jianhua districts had 979,517 inhabitants, while the total population of the prefecture-level city was 5,367,003 at the 2010 census. These are mainly Han Chinese, though the city is also home to thirty-four minorities including Manchu, Daur, and Mongolians. Close to Qiqihar are numerous wetlands and the Zhalong Nature Reserve, famous in China for being home to numerous red-crowned cranes.

The Khitan people settled in the region under the Liao dynasty. The word "Qiqi" is a reference to a local river; the word "hari" refers to defense.

Qiqihar is one of the oldest cities in the northeast of China. The region was originally settled by nomadic Daur and Tungus herdsmen. Qiqihar is a Daur word, which means border or natural pasture. The city's original name was Bukui (卜奎), the Chinese transcription of a Daur word meaning "auspicious". The city's oldest mosque, the Bukui Mosque, actually predates the foundation of the city itself by seven years. As the Czarist Russian eastward advance to the Pacific coast, Qiqihar became a major garrison center in 1674. In 1691, a stronghold was constructed in Qiqihar because of the Qing government's campaigns against the Mongols. Around 1700 it was a center for Russo-Chinese trade. A military depot with barracks and an arsenal was set up there, and many convicted criminals were exiled to the area. Heilongjiang Martial domiciled in Qiqihar City in 1699. The Qing Dynasty had initially intended to keep far-northern Heilongjiang province as a semi-pastoral area, separate from the wider Chinese agricultural economy, so it did not allow seasonal urban migrants, such as those from Hebei and Shandong who wished to participate in the Qiqihar fur trade, to own acres and transform the land. After the Russian Empire seized Outer Manchuria according to the unequal treaties of Aigun and Beijing, the Qing made the decision to lift the various restrictions it placed on Northeast China and on Heilongjiang residency in particular, in 1868, 1878, and 1904. It enlisted Han people to help teach the local Solon people farming techniques, providing materials and tax exemptions in order to convert them from hunting. In 1903, The completion of the Chinese Eastern Railway made Qiqihar a center for communications between China and Russia. A network of lines radiating from Qiqihar was extended into the northwestern part of Heilongjiang Province including Jiagedaqi and Manzhouli in the late 1920s.


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