?????
Qíqíh?'?r Shì

location of Qiqihar within Heilongjiang
Administration Type	Prefecture-level city
Area	42,469 km²
Population (2005)  - Metropolitan area	6,011,000 1.438,550
GDP - Total - Per Capita	¥ ¥
Major Nationalities	Han, Manchu, Mongol, Hui
County-level divisions	16
Township-level divisions	?
Area code	0452
Postal Code	161000
License Plate Prefix	?B

Qiqihar (; Manchu: Cicigar hoton) 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 the 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

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).

Subdivisions

Qiqihar is divided into 16 divisions: 7 districts (?/? q?), 8 counties (?/? xiàn) and 1 county-level city (???/??? xiànjí shì).

The urban area includes Tiefeng District, Longsha District and Jianhua District.

Districts:

• Longsha District (???/???)
• Ang'angxi District (????)
• Tiefeng District (???/???)
• Jianhua District (???/???)
• Fularji District ?????/?????
• Nianzishan District(????)
• Meilisi District (????)

County-level city:

• Nehe City (???/???)

Counties:

• Fuyu County ???)
• Baiquan County (???)
• Gannan County (???)
• Yi'an County (???)
• Keshan County (???)
• Tailai County (???/???)
• Kedong County (???/???)
• Longjiang County (???/???)

Tourism

• 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

Sports

Qiqihar was previously home to an Asia League Ice Hockey team which used the snow leopard as a mascot. The team later became Changchun Fuao, relocating to Changchun, Jilin Province. Qiqihar will play host to the 2007 IIHF World Championships Division I, Group A.

See also

• Unit 516

External links

• Official City of Qiqihar Site, in English
• ?Chinese Village Struggles to Save Dying Language? ? New York Times article about Manchu speakers in S?nji?z? (), Fùyù County

see also heiljjong and rek

de:Qiqihar et:Qiqihar es:Qiqihar fr:Qiqihar ko:???? id:Qiqihar nl:Qiqihar ja:????? no:Qiqihar pl:Qiqihar pt:Qiqihar ru:??????? sv:Qiqihar tl:Qiqihar vi:T? T? Cáp Nh? zh:?????

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