Qiqihaer

Qiqihar is a major city in the Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China. It has 895,000 inhabitants. These are mainly Han Chinese and the resident minorities are, among others, 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.

History
Qiqihar is one of the oldest cities in the northeast of China and was founded in 1691. From 1931 until 1945 it was an important military base for the Japanese control of northeastern China, going by the name Tsitsihar. During the occupation, the Imperial Japanese Army established in Qiqihar chemical research unit 516 for chemical warfare. A major mustard gas tank leftover from the Second Sino-Japanese War buried underground was accidentally damaged in 2003. It caused major injuries and one death.

Geography and Climate
The population is about 6.011 million, where 1,438,550 (January 1, 2005) people live in the city. The area is 4,310 km²; 42,469 km² including suburbs. It is about 146 m above sea level and the annual rainfall is 415 mm. Average temperature is 3.2°C (January - 25.7°C, July 22.8°C). Qiqihar is a principal Chinese city, the second largest in Heilongjiang Province and the 13th largest in China (based on total population).

Tourisit Sites
Zhalong Nature Reserve
Longsha Park
Zen Monastery
Labor Lake
New cultural sites at Ang'angxi
Wan Shin Buddhist Temple
St. Michael's Cathedral
Mingyue Island