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.

[15] 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.

– 23,537, Jews – 5,032, Poles – 2556, Japanese – 696, Germans – 564, Tatars – 234, Latvians – 218, Georgians – 183, Estonians – 172, Lithuanians – 142, Armenians – 124; there were also Karaims, Ukrainians, Bashkirs, and some Western Europeans.

[44] Nikolai Baikov, a Russian writer in Harbin was known for his novels of exile life in that city together with his accounts of his travels across Manchuria and the folklore of its Manchu and Chinese population.

[50] The main facility of the Unit 731 was built in 1935 at Pingfang District, approximately 24 km (15 mi) south of Harbin urban area at that time.

On 23 August 1966, Red Guards stormed into St. Nicholas Cathedral, burned its icons on the streets while chanting xenophobic slogans before destroying the church.

Mao Zedong ordered an evacuation of military and other key state enterprises away from the northeastern frontier, with Harbin being the core zone of this region, bordering the Soviet Union.

During this Third Front Development Era of China, several major factories of Harbin were relocated to Southwestern Provinces including Gansu, Sichuan, Hunan and Guizhou, where they would be strategically secure in the event of a possible war.

A memorial hall honoring Korean nationalist and independence activist[76] Ahn Jung-geun was unveiled at Harbin Railway Station on 19 January 2014.

[78] South Korean President Park Geun-Hye raised an idea of erecting a monument for Ahn while meeting with Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping during a visit to China in June 2013.

[82] Its administrative area is rather large with latitude spanning 44° 04′−46° 40′ N, and longitude 125° 42′−130° 10' E.[83] Neighbouring prefecture-level cities are Yichun to the north, Jiamusi and Qitaihe to the northeast, Mudanjiang to the southeast, Daqing to the west, and Suihua to the northwest.

The easternmost part of Harbin prefecture also has extensive wetlands, mainly in Yilan County, which is located at the southwestern edge of the Sanjiang Plain.

[87][88] To mitigate impacts of climate change, urban planning in Harbin has made use of sponge city concepts, including the Qunli stormwater park which collects, filters, and stores rainwater while conserving natural habitat.

[103] This investment and trade fair cumulatively attracting more than 1.9 million exhibitors and visitors from more than 80 countries and regions to attend, resulting over US$100 billion contract volume concluded according to the statistics of 2013.

The 12.2 square-kilometers Yingbin Road Hi-tech Centralized Park, which was formerly part of HETDZ, is currently under the administration of Harbin High and New Technology Industry Development Zone since 2009.

The ethnic composition according to the 2020 census:[116] The Catholic minority is pastorally served by the Apostolic Administration of Harbin, a missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction.

The badly damaged Church of the Iver Icon of the Mother of God was previously used by Russian soldiers of the Outer Amur Military Region, then garrisoned in Harbin.

They are then lightly coated in a variation of a sweet and sour sauce, made from freshly prepared syrup, rice vinegar, sugar, flavoured with ginger, cilantro, sliced carrot and garlic.

In order to fete foreign guests, Zheng Xingwen, the chef of Daotai Fu, altered the dish into a sweet and sour taste.

[133] Harbin is known for its European-style structures, for example, the popular Saint Sophia Cathedral, the design on Central Street, and the Baroque compositional complex in Lao Daowai (Old Town).

Winter activities in the festival include Yabuli Alpine Skiing, snow mobile driving, winter-swimming in Songhua River, and the traditional ice-lantern exhibition in Zhaolin Garden, which was first held in 1963.

Nearly 100 famous musicians have studied at the school since its founding, said Liu Yantao, deputy chief of Harbin Cultural, Press and Publication Bureau.

Following its designation in 1996 as a national cultural heritage site (First class Preserved Building),[140] it was turned into a museum as a showcase of the history of Harbin city in 1997.

[142] Many citizens believe that the Orthodox church damaged the local feng shui, so they donated money to build a Chinese Buddhist monastery in 1921, the Ji Le Temple.

After the completion of the Harbin Grand Theatre, the public can enjoy opera, symphony, ballet and drama performances in various function rooms.

[156][157] Heilongjiang Ice City Football Club currently play their home soccer matches at Harbin International Conference Exhibition and Sports Center, a 50000-seater stadium.

[100] Direct high-speed railway service began operation between Harbin West and Shanghai Hongqiao stations on 28 December 2013, and shorten the journey time to 12 hours.

There are flights to over thirty large cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Dalian, Xi'an and Hong Kong.

Available from mid-April until the beginning of November, passenger ships sail from Harbin up the Songhua River to Qiqihar, or downstream to Jiamusi, Tongjiang, and Khabarovsk in Russia.

5The claimed province of Taiwan no longer have any internal division announced by Ministry of Civil Affairs of PRC, due to lack of actual jurisdiction.