Heihe (hēi hé 黑河) is located in the northeast region of Heilongjiang (hēi lóng jiāng 黑龙江) Province and is the first of the opening border cities of China. The territory of City Heihe starts from the central line of the main course of Heilongjiang River, overlooking Blagoveshchensk (bù lā gē wéi shēn sī kè 布拉戈维申斯克), the capital of Amur State and the third largest city in the Far East Region of Russia. It is a magic land which contains the Aihui Distrct (ài huī qū 瑷珲区), the Border Economic Cooperative Zone, Sino-Russian Border People Trading Zone and the Wudalianchi (wǔ dà lián chí 五大连池) Scenic Zone as well as the 1.72 million local people of all nationalities on their homeland of 68,726 square kilometers have been making the border land prosperous, keeping neighbors in harmony and strengthening the society generation by generation, winning glories one after another.

 

 

Heihe is one of the five ancient cities of Heilongjiang Province. Humans settled Heihe as early as the Paleolithic Age and it became home to local tribes later. During the Qing Dynasty (qīng 清) (1644-1911), this was the first place troops sent to Heilongjiang were stationed. The predecessor of today's Heihe was the town established in 1683 some 30 km south of the modern city site (in today's Aihui District) and was known as Aigun (ài huī 瑷珲), Heilongjiang (The two last names both mean "the Black River" - the name for the Amur River in Chinese and Manchu, respectively). From 1683 to 1690 Aigun was the capital (the seat of the Military Governor) of Heilongjiang Province.

 

 

Heihe is adjacent to the cold, windy grasslands of Siberia. It enjoys a cold temperate continental monsoon climate with long, chilly winters, and cool, short summers. Its annual average temperature is around -1.3-0.4 C (29.7-32.7 F). Heihe has the long chilly winter and cool short summer so that the best travel time is from May to September every year.

 

 

Wudalianchi Scenic Spot (wǔ dà lián chí 五大连池)

Wudalianchi (wǔ dà lián chí 五大连池) scenic spot, located in the City of Heihe (hē hé shì 黑河市), covers 1068 square kilometers. Wudaliangchi volcanoes are the best preserved the most typical recent volcanic cluster in China. 14 volcanoes are regularly distributed in the park, of which 12 volcanoes erupted during Quaternary Period (dì sì jì 第四纪), 2 erupted between 1719 and 1721, which cover an area of more than 60 square kilometers, and are the latest volcanoes in China. These old and new volcanoes are collocated alternately. In 1991, it was rated as one of the forty best national tourism resorts of China. It is named "the Mineral Water Town of China" and "China's Natural Volcanic Park".

Location: Wudalianchi District (wǔ dà lián chí qū 五大连池区), Heihe City (hēi hé shì 黑河市)

Transportation: take bus to Wudalianci city at Heihe bus station (hēi hé qì chē zhàn 黑河汽车站)

 

Aihui History Exhibition Hall (ài huī lì shǐ chén liè guǎn 瑷珲历史陈列馆)

With a construction area of 200 square meters, Aihui History Exhibition Hall was built in 1975. Then its display content was adjusted in July, 1979 and it was renamed Aihui History Exhibition Hall.

The design combines square and round into a whole; the main exhibition hall building is round on the right and square on the left, symbolizing the integrity of territory, but it was divided into two by a triangle, which means the unequal Aihui Treaty made territory of over 600,000 square meters was occupied by Russia. One side of the triangle points at Witness Pine, the other side points at Kuixing (kuí xīng 魁星) Pavilion. The exhibition hall shows two sculptures scenes of Aihui Treaty (ài huī tiáo yuē 瑷珲条约) and Nibuchu Treaty (ní bù chǔ tiáo yuē 尼布楚条约). The display of views of Aihui Treaty reproduces the history of ruined Aihui City and people of Aihui’s unbending resistance. The Eternal Friendship is the theme exhibition reflecting the friendly intercourse between China and Russia from ancient times to modern times.

Location: Aihui District (ài huī qū 瑷珲区), Heihe City

Transportation: Take direct scheduled bus to Aihui Town at Heihe bus station

Opening Time: 9:00-18:00

Admission: CNY 20

 

Woniu Lake (wò niú hú 卧牛湖)

Woniu Lake is located on the 16 kilometers of Heihu (hēi hū 黑呼) Road. It is the provincial level scenic spot of Heilongjiang Province and a famous scenery spot in the northern end of China. The lake covers a total area of 50 square kilometers and overlooks Blagoveshchensk of Russia. Woniu Lake is an unpolluted place with clean, transparent and wavy water.

Around the lake are meandering mountains with flourishing trees and dense forests. As no main road passes here, this place is free from noise, soot and busy traffic. In here, picturesque scenery, pleasant sight and fresh air will impress you a lot. The water of Woniu Lake, which is encompassed by mountains, ripples slightly with the wind. Sometimes, there are boats pass by. You can enjoy this dramatic scenery as long as you like. Every year, 1.5 million small fishes are put into the lake and reproduce 600 thousand of fishes. The annual catching quantity is about 75 thousand kilograms on average with the biggest quantity of 100 thousand kilograms. In the lake, you can find carp, crucial, silver carp, grass carp and cat fish. The fishing lovers could fully display their capabilities here. In winter, the frozen lake surface is a natural ice stadium. You can skate, ski, play icy sail and play sledges on the lake.

Location: Woniu Town (wò niú cūn 卧牛村), Aihui District

Transportation: take bus to Woniu Town at Heihe Bus Station

Opening Time: 8:30-18:00

Admission: CNY 18

 

Fresh Orogen Nationality Township (xīn shēng è lún chūn míng zú xiāng 新生鄂伦春名族乡)

Freshmen from the Oroqen (è lún chūn 鄂伦春) nationality townships Heihe 89 kilometers, is China's Oroqen peoples of at least one of the nation. Oroqen nationality living in the dense forest of Lesser Xing An Mount has so far kept the customs and culture of north herding and hunting tribes. In the Oroqen nationality township, visitors are welcome to dance a "Hanbai Dance" (hǎn bài wǔ 罕拜舞) with Oroqen girls, and to taste barbecue with your fingers, and to go hunting for rare games together with Oroqen hunters if curiosity compels.

Location: Oroqen nationality township (xīn shēng è lún chūn míng zú xiāng 新生鄂伦春名族乡), Aihui District

Transportation: take bus to Aihui District at Heihe Bus Station

Admission: CNY 20

 

 

Local Food 

Heihe's food is based on the Northeast flavor, diversity of different cuisine. Also the Russian dinner is their specialty as its location near Russia, is very popular among the tourists

 

Russian Soup (sū bó tāng 苏伯汤)

It contained cabbage, potato, tomato with the beef to stew for some minutes. It has rich nutrition.

 

Dressing cold fresh fish in sauce (bàn shēng yú 拌生鱼)

Clean the fresh fish to preserve in vinegar for some hours, and then dress cold fresh fish with mustard, garlic, chili, coriander and so on. It is more sour and hot to stimulate the appetite.

 

Frying chum salmons (dòu bàn yuán zhī dà mǎ hā yú 豆瓣大马哈鱼)

Frying the chum salmons and then stew it with thick broad-bean sauce.