Qiqihar is a major city in the Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. The municipal area has about 1,5 million inhabitants, while the total population of the prefecture-level city is about 5,37 million.
Close to Qiqihar are numerous wetlands and the Zhalong Nature Reserve, famous in China for being home to numerous red-crowned cranes.
Qiqihar is one of the oldest cities in the northeast of China. It was built in 1691.
Qiqihar is part of Harbin-Daqing-Qiqihar Industrial Corridor, which is a comprehensive industrial base with a focus on petrochemicals, energy, autos, electronics, medicine and food. Equipment manufacturing and food and beverages are the two pillar industries in the city. Animal husbandry is a pillar of Qiqihar's agricultural sector. Qiqihar is also a major corn production hub in Heilongjiang Province.
The tourism is mainly based on the Zhalong Nature Reserve. This marsh reserve serves as a stopover and nesting area for a large number of storks, swans, herons, grebes and other species. Lying on a migration path stretching from the Russian Arctic around the Gobi desert to South East Asia the land under this preserve is used by migrating birds between April and October.
Krasnoyarsk and Qiqihar signed an Agreement about fraternization in 2005.
Qiqihar city Public Government web-site:
