Harbin

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Northeast China (东北) » Heilongjiang (黑龙江) » Harbin (哈尔滨)

Contents

Location of Harbin in Heilongjiang Province
Location of Harbin in Heilongjiang Province
Sun Island
Sun Island

[edit] Overview

Best known for its annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, and widely accepted as the best choice of natural summer resort, Harbin (哈尔滨) has both a European and Asian feel as East meets West in the Russian and Chinese architecture of St. Sophia Church and the Dragon Tower. With its onion-domed buildings, the winding cobblestone streets, fantastic sculptures and ice lanterns, Harbin is one of China's better-kept secrets.

The cuisine in Harbin is clearly influenced by Russia, Mongolia, Korea and of course China. The wide ranges of food choices will surely fulfill your demanding appetite. Moreover, the people in Harbin and Northeast China (东北) gather at restaurants not just for food, but also for getting together, talking, drinking, and eating the night away.

Every year Harbin welcomes large numbers of tourists. The city's transport and hotels have been meeting the needs of seasonal tourists for decades.

Harbin's surrounding areas is still undisturbed with full of forests, lakes, mountains, awaiting you to explore.

Harbin has a population of 9.7 million and covers an area of 53,068 sq km.

[edit] History

Jin (1115-1234) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties once settled in Huining (会宁), a small city near Harbin as their capitals. In 1897, a group of Russian engineers set up a camp in today's Harbin while surveying the Trans-Siberian Railway, and later built the railway terminus here. During World War II, Harbin was occupied by Japanese, and later captured by the Chinese in 1946. Since early 20th century, Harbin has attracted people from all different countries. Today Harbin boasts over 160,000 foreigners from 33 countries. Once a Russian-built outpost of the railway, Harbin is the capital of Heilongjiang province, and has become a vital economic, transport center in Northeast China.

[edit] Weather

 Current Conditions (2010-09-03 20:00:00, local time)

Harbin
Mostly Cloudy

Mostly Cloudy

Temp: 68°F (20°C)
Wind: E at 2 mph
Humidity: 80%

 Harbin Weather Forecast

Friday
Partly Sunny
Partly Sunny

78/51°F

Saturday
Partly Sunny
Partly Sunny

80/53°F

Sunday
Mostly Sunny
Mostly Sunny

82/62°F

Monday
Mostly Sunny
Mostly Sunny

86/44°F

Weather Forecast

Weather averages for Harbin
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Avg high °C (°F) -13 (9) -7 (19) 3 (37) 14 (57) 21 (70) 26 (79) 28 (82) 26 (79) 21 (70) 12 (54) 0 (32) -10 (14)
Avg low °C (°F) -23 (-9) -19 (-2) -9 (16) 1 (34) 9 (48) 15 (59) 18 (64) 17 (63) 9 (48) 1 (34) -9 (16) -19 (-2)
Rain cm (inches) 0.35 (0.1) 0.26 (0.1) 0.71 (0.3) 1.89 (0.7) 2.7 (1.1) 6.31 (2.5) 10.66 (4.2) 8.81 (3.5) 3.86 (1.5) 1.9 (0.7) 0.94 (0.4) 0.48 (0.2)
Source: per MSN 2008

[edit] Map

Click here to open Harbin map.

[edit] Getting in & Getting out

[edit] By Air

Harbin Taiping International Airport (HRB) is located 33 km (about 21 miles) to the northwest of the city center. It was built in 1979 and is relatively small airport capable of handling 6.66 milliion passengers every year, 3000 passengers per hour, and 180 airplanes per day. There are over 50 air routes connecting it to all major cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu. International flights include Khabarovsk and Vladivostok (Russia), Niigata (Japan), Seoul (South Korea).

  • Airport Hotline: 0451-8289-4220
  • Airport Shuttle: 0451-8289-4114

The airport shuttle to downtown Harbin is 20 RMB, and taxi to downtown Harbin is about 100 ~ 120 RMB.

Front view of Harbin Train Station
Front view of Harbin Train Station

[edit] By Train

Located on Tielu Jie (No. 1 Tielu Jie, Nangang District, Harbin, 150006), Harbin train station has a history of over 100 years (originally built by the Russian in 1899, and was later expanded several times in 1955, 1960, 1972, 1989 and 2002.

Search the Harbin train schedule on this site for detailed info.

  • General Inquiry at Harbin Train Station： 0451-8642-0115
  • Train ticket reservation line： 0451-5360-2828

[edit] By Bus

The main long-distance bus station is Nangang Station (南岗站), which is located across the square from the Harbin train station. In addition, there are other stations such as Daowai Station (道外站), Daqiao Station (大桥站), Jiaohua Station (教化站), and Three Trees Station (三棵树站).

There are 12 highways (including state highway 102, 301, 202 and 221) from Harbin going to different cities, such as Beijing (about 13 hours), Mudanjiang (about 4 hours), Qiqihar (about 5 hours), Changchun (about 4 hours), Jilin City (about 6 hours), Dalian (about 10 hrs), Shenyang (about 8 hours), Yanji (about 9 hrs).

  • Harbin Passenger Station general inquiry： 0451-5364-0770
  • Nangang Station info line: 0451-5366-5901

[edit] By Ship

Harbin is located at the middle reaches of the Songhua River (松花江). The port has freight and passenger ships going to Russia, Japan, South Korea, and some areas in Southeast Asia. The port usually only open from mid-April to early November due to the weather conditions in winter.

There are three daily ships going to the Sun Island (太阳島), a famous attraction in Harbin.

  • Harbin Ferry Inquiry line: 0451-8868-6615
  • Harbin Ferry Passenger Station info line: 0451-8461-6851

[edit] Getting Around

[edit] By Public Bus and Tour Bus

There are over 90 bus lines in Harbin. In addition, there are many tour buses going to different tourist attractions.

The passenger station hotline is 0451-5364-0770

[edit] By Taxi & Rental Car

Harbin has a variety of taxis, ranging from low-end Xiali (夏利) to mid and high-end cars such as Santana (桑塔纳), Jetta (捷达), Citroen (富康). The cost for low-end ones is 7 RMB for the first 3 kms, and then 1.6 RMB for each additional km. High-end ones are 8 RMB for the first 3 kms, and then 1.9 RMB for each additional km.

Harbin Cab company phone: 0451-8838-1537

St. Sophia Church (圣索菲亚大教堂)
St. Sophia Church (圣索菲亚大教堂)

[edit] Video

Harbin

    Get the Flash Player to see this player.

A Day and Night at the Harbin Ice Festival.

[edit] Attractions

  • Ice and snow tour:

Ice and snow tour has acquired the supreme quality of Harbin, which becomes one of four domestic tour hot lines around Spring festival and becomes might one of thirty-five trump products presented by National Tourism Administration to the world as well.

  • Hunting tour:

Characteristic tour, mainly composed of Yuquan hunting square, is a hunting tour line of stretching towards Wulong National hunting plaza in Tonghe county.

  • Folk custom tour:

It is a designed activity for showing minorities' traditional customs in Heilongjiang to the travelers. Hot lines as following:

A line: Harbin---- A-cheng ( Man race village ) -------Hulan ( farm cottages)

B line: Harbin---- Heihe(e-lunchun race)—tongjiang(Hezhe race )--- Man race autonomic village in A-cheng

  • Anti-hot tour:

Harbin summer holds the great difference in temperature between day and night, pleasant cool, and it is a famous anti-hot interest of china. Anti-hot vacation tour takes the Sun Island, two-dragon mountain as the main scenic spots with the assistance of Changling Lake, west countryside fish pool and the surrounding vacation area. Song-mountain, Yuquan hunting plaza, Yabli windmill village are also good traveling places to visit.

  • Jin dynasty's culture tour:

Probe into Jin dynasty's culture as the main contents of tour activity fabricates Jin dynasty's culture tour. Huining court site in A-cheng region is the cradle of Jin dynasty's culture of china. The site takes on unique exploiture profits of tour.



more Harbin attractions

[edit] Hotels

[edit] Budget

[edit] Luxury

[edit] Restaurants

Chinese

  • Eastern Dumpling King (东方饺子王)
There are at least 4 branches of this restaurant in Harbin. The main branch is located at 39 Zhongyang Dajie (中央大街39号). This one is an extremely popular Chinese restaurant in Harbin. It serves some of the best dumplings in Northeast China. Popular dishes include sanxian dumpling (shrimp, pork, and garlic chive), corn and pine nut dumpling, celery pork dumpling, fried beef dumpling and cabbage pork dumpling.
  • Big Harvest (大丰收)
This is a very large restaurant located at 283 Yiman Street (一曼街283号). It serves traditional Northeast China cuisine in a unique environment: the dishes are huge; sunflower seeds are spread on tables as appetizers; guests sit on benches and drink beer out of bowls; the only tea available is made from wheat.
  • Beilaishun (北来顺清真饭店)
Tel: 8461-5531. The most famous Muslim restaurant in Harbin. Located at 51 Youyi Road (友谊路51号), this restaurant serves typical Muslin dishes such as mutton hot pot, tender strips of lamb braised in soy-and-garlic sauce.

Western

  • Portman Western Food Restaurant (波特曼西餐厅)
Tel: 8468-6888. Address: 53 Xiqidaojie, Zhongyang Dajie (中央大街西七道街53号). Portman serves the most authentic Western food in Harbin. Live-music performances start every night at 9pm.
  • Huamei Restaurant (华梅西餐厅)
Tel: 8461-7368 Address: 112 Zhongyang Dajie (中央大街112号). Russian, British, French and Italian dishes are offered here.
  • Cafe Russia (露西亚西餐厅)
Nestled inside an old Russian building near the Flood Control Monument on Zhongyang Dajie, Cafe Russia serves a small but satisfying selection of Western dishes all under a fantastic ambiance.

[edit] Shopping

Imported Russian goods of all types and qualities are available from tourist shops around town. Look out for vodka, Russian dolls, chocolate and much more. The local Chinese appeared to have picked up some aspects of Russian cuisine, with western style bread and sausage available around town. Beyond this, the shopping is much like any other city in China.

  • Zhongyang Dajie The main shopping district is along Zhongyang Dajie where there is a Wal-Mart near the flood control monument and another shopping district along Guogeli Jie where you can find clothing, food and more. Along this street are huge new shopping malls such as the Euro Plaza, Parksons, and Lane Crawford that carry international brands and are expensive. There are Nike stores, KFC and interesting Russian thrift stores. The street is lined with beer gardens during the summer.
  • Guogeli Dajie (果各里大街). Harbin's second biggest shopping district after Zhongyang Dajie (bigger in size). The area around here is dotted with Russian buildings and HUGE shopping complexes. At night there are numerous night markets, a small scale Russian church where people dance, and a small and lively "bar lake."
  • Indian Street (印度一条街). A commercial side street located right off Guogele Dajie. If you're facing the East, it's past the giant castle and on your right. Used to be complete with Indian thrift stores, clothing, and food, but now offers only Russian items, including dolls, pocketknives and toys.

--from wikitravel.org

[edit] Night Life & Entertainment

[edit] Clubs

Many discos that cater mainly to Chinese have table minimums. That is, each table has a different minimum purchase to sit there and you must purchase at least that much as soon as you sit down. They won't trust that you will eventually purchase enough over the course of the evening. Some even have the price of the table on a tent card sitting on the table. You can try and get around this sales tactic by saying you want to just have a look around (wo yao xian kan kan) and hope that they forget about you.

  • The Box (BOX糖果酒吧) 82 Xidazhi Jie 西大直街82号, current expat hangout of Harbin. Join the debauchery on the weekends.
  • Babyface Youzheng Jie and Hongjun Jie intersection (南岗区邮政街和红军街交口) the newest addition to Harbin's club scene its nothing like its sister in Beijing or Shanghai, seems to have lost its popularity to Tanghui, lots of rich people. A Long Island is 40 kuai. Not much dancing.
  • Kiss Disco 150 Dongdazhi Jie (东大直街150号) The biggest disco in Harbin, can fit a couple thousand people, lots of young people. If you enter, you will be the only foreigner. Can be fun but there is a Chinese mafia presence here. Expensive drinks, beers are 25+. Wed is ladies night and it is packed
  • SOS Club (唐会国际俱乐部) 110 Zhongshan Lu (中山路111号) currently the most popular disco with the Chinese. Plays Hip Hop.
  • Banana (南岗区红军街华融饭店地下一层) In the basement of the Sino-Way hotel, expensive, smallish, and pushy waiters that make you buy expensive drinks. Overall, not fun.
  • Blue's (布鲁斯酒吧) 100 Diduan Jie (地段街100号) everything that is Harbin, Russians, Mongolians, Turks, Canadians, Brazilians, Koreans. Frequent staging ground for fights between Koreans and Mongolians or Russians fighting with Russians. Friday nights 10:30PM and afterward get really crazy when about 80% of Harbin's international students head out to Blues to party. Also, at 11PM you can buy a bottle of Vodka for 10 kuai, but its devil water from Anhui has made many people go nuts and dance on the pole for hours. During the week it's full of Chinese.
  • CoCo Club Changjiang Street and Yushan Street intersection (长江路与玉山路交汇处) Newly opened flashy disco.
  • New Las Vegas (新拉斯维加斯迪吧) Fushun Tiantian Hotel (福顺天天大酒店) out in the development district (kaifaqu), its not big but not small, lots of dancing, drinks are expensive, lots of flashing lights, usually dead after 11:30PM.
  • Pacers (步行者主题音乐餐厅) 102 Xidazhi Jie (西大直街102号) Full of the seediest foreign teachers and Russians, a big drug scene, really sketchy foreigners. Scantily clad dancers on poles.
  • 'No. One Disco Pearl River Hotel Zhujiang Bingguan (珠江路珠江宾馆) Another big flashy disco as big as Kiss, lots of go-go dancers who are also prostitutes. Pushy bartenders who don't let you sit down without buying a drink. Can be packed sometimes. Worth a try.
  • Jinhao Disco (金豪迪吧) 161 Heping (Lu 和平路161号) one of the oldest discos in Harbin, kind of run-down now, frequent bar fights. As the cab drivers say, "Don't go there, that's where the poor people go."
  • Yes (夜斯) near Blues, yet another flashy disco with pounding techno; it's okay.
  • 哈尔滨麦莎慢摇酒吧俱乐部 (道里区兆麟街21号) A large club with lots of singing and performances. Mostly tables but there are people dancing.
  • Dijie Manyao Bar (帝街慢摇吧) 2 Manzhouli Jie (满洲里街2号) Another bar with scantily clad dancers
  • Camp David (大为营), Guogeli Da Jie, looks like a giant castle, used to be the expat hangout in Harbin before Blues. Full of people nonetheless.
  • Guang Zai (Near Yi man Street) Frequented mostly by young people-- atmosphere is good.

[edit] Bars

Most bars in the city are clustered around the universities and tourist districts. The Development Zone has some bars as well but they are more expensive.

  • Harbin Institute of Technology vicinity (府华小区). The campus of HIT is surrounded with a number of small and cozy bars. HIT itself has a number of foreign teachers and hundreds of foreign students. Some notable bars are Red Rose (红玫瑰), Sculpting in Time (雕刻时光) and the HIT Bar.
  • Sky Bar and Cafe (SKY酒吧), 桥东街107好. Chill, local hangout for westerners in Harbin city, in the HIT vicinity. Good music. Drinks are reasonably priced (e.g., 10元 for Harbin beer, 16元 for mixed drinks). Great place to meet and chat with some english-speaking locals, who have a lot of useful advice for travellers visiting the city. Open daily around 6PM. Its location is on a side-street west of Guixin Jie (贵新街), south of Xidazhi Dajie (西大直大街), next to the railroad tracks.
  • Guogeli Dajie (果戈里大街). At the middle portion of this road, there is a small man made lake that is surrounded by 10 or so small pubs and a fountain. During the warmer months this small square is packed with people out for a night stroll and is really lively. This also seems to be a place for the trendy teens and college age kids to hang out. If you continue walking down Guogeli Dajie there are a few more small bars dotting the street. Great for people watching! For about 100rmb you can order a "beer tower" (啤酒塔 pijiuta), which is a tall plastic tube with a spigot on the bottom. At the other end of the lake there is a restaurant that resembles TGI Friday's, as besides the name being changed to DJ Friday's almost everything else has been copied. What makes this place really stand out from the real TGI Fridays are the scantily clad Russian dancers.
  • Near Heilongjiang University (黑龙江大学) right across from the main gate are several small bars and pubs to accommodate the huge Korean and Russian student population.

--from wikitravel.org

[edit] Sports & Recreation

  • Skiing Yabuli (亚布力) is one of the largest skiing areas in China and venue for the 1996 Asian Winter Games. Located within 2 hours of the city.
  • Yangge Traditional Chinese Dance You'll notice that during the warmer months (and even sometimes in the winter) there will be legions of senior citizens out on the street doing a group dance complete with drumming and costumes. This is called niu yang ge and if you are adventurous just jump in and dance along!
  • Bowling is very popular among the Chinese in Harbin. Most of the larger hotels have a bowling alley. There is also a bowling club located behind the Sino Way hotel with 2 separate floors and pool tables as well.
  • Swimming Believe it or not, people actually swim in the Songhua during the winter, but after all the pollution spills, it's probably not even safe to swim during the summer. If you are looking for a clean pool to swim in, try the pool at the Shangri-La Hotel or Heilongjiang University.
  • Golf (高尔夫球场). Yes Harbin has a golf course in the development zone, and is ¥300 per round and ¥20 to use the driving range. Obviously not open during the winter。 Located directly behind the Heilongjiang TV Station (黑龙江电视台), it's the giant glass building with a oversize red glass diamond.
  • Haerbin Grecism International Health Club (哈尔滨恒详国际健身俱乐部). 95 Hayao Jie (道里区哈药路95号), one of Harbin's nicest health clubs that includes a full pool, American work out equipment, sauna and hot tub, indoor track and cafe. Membership is expensive.
  • Fitness Ark Health Club (美丽方舟健身俱乐部). 3rd floor of Hate Mall, 118 Xidazhi Jie (南岗区西大直街118号哈特), located right near HIT, this is a great and cheap health club. A number of foreign students and teachers hang out here.

--from wikitravel.org

[edit] Excursions & Day Trips

China's largest oil fields. Two hours' train ride from Harbin.
Formed by a volcanic crater in ancient times. Daily buses between Harbin's main long-distance passenger bus station and the Wuda Lianchi bus station at the Wuda Lianchi Worker's Sanatorium. The bus trip takes about 5 hours.
Today's Acheng. It was served as the first capital of the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) between 1122 to 1234. Only the ruins of the old city exist today. Many artifacts excavated from here are displayed in Harbin.
In Mudanjiang (牡丹江) area. Trains N2, N3, N4 go to Mudanjiang. Then a short bus ride can take you to the Mirror Lake.
In Mudanjiang (牡丹江) area. Hosted many winter ski sport events including the Asia Winter Games.

[edit] Tips & Practical Info

  • Police: 110
  • Phone Number Inquiry: 114
  • Fire: 119
  • Ambulance: 120
  • Traffic: 122
  • China Telecom Customer Hotline: 180
  • Weather Forecast: 12121
  • Taxi Complaints: 8632-2900 8632-3900
  • Harbin Tourist Complain Line: 8466-4315
  • Mayor's Hotline: 8461-2345
  • Hospital:
    • No. 1 Hospital of Harbin
Address: No. 151 Diduan Street, Daoli District
Tel: 468-3684 (Admin office)
  • No. 1 Hospital of Harbin Medical University
Address: No.31 Youzheng Street, Nangang District
Tel: 5364-1563
  • No. 2 Hospital of Harbin Medical University
Address: No. 247 Xuefu Road, Nangang District
Tel: 8660-522, 8660-5612
  • Harbin Children's Hospital
Address: No. 57 Youyi Road, Daoli District
Tel: 8488-1200
  • Provincial Hospital
Address: No. 82 Zhongshan Road, Xiangfang District
Tel: 566-2971

[edit] See also

Wikipedia:Harbin

Retrieved from "http://chinatravelguide.com/ctgwiki/Harbin"
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