Harbin 哈尔滨Hā’ěrbīn

About Harbin

Harbin began in 1898 as a base of the Russian-built Chinese Eastern Railway, and Saint Sophia Cathedral and Central Street still give the old centre a Russian look. Across the Songhua River, Sun Island hosts huge snow sculptures in winter, when Harbin Ice & Snow World rises from blocks cut from the frozen river and glows from within. The Siberian Tiger Park is also north of the river, and at Acheng, south-east of the centre, lies the site of the Jin dynasty capital Shangjing Huiningfu.

What to eat in Harbin

• Guobaorou sweet-and-sour pork (锅包肉)
• Harbin red sausage (哈尔滨红肠)
• Dalieba bread (大列巴)

Featured places in Harbin

• 

  Harbin Ice & Snow World 哈尔滨冰雪大世界

  Full-size castles of river ice, glowing with colour through Harbin's deep-freeze winter

  Best time: Late Dec–Feb · Time needed: Afternoon and evening

• 

  China Snow Town (Xuexiang) 雪乡

  A forest-farm village under thick caps of sticky snow, busy, commercial and very cold

  Best time: Dec–Feb · Time needed: 2 days (one night in the village) · 4A scenic area

• 

  Central Street & St Sophia Cathedral 中央大街与圣索菲亚教堂

  A cobbled pedestrian street of Russian-era façades and a green-domed Orthodox cathedral

  Best time: Jun–Sep, Dec–Feb · Time needed: Half a day · 4A scenic area · National heritage site

Listed sites in Harbin

36 sites in Harbin are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.

• Sun Island Scenic Area 太阳岛 5A scenic area
  A river island and wetland on the north bank of the Songhua opposite central Harbin, where Russian residents built summer villas in the early twentieth century.
• Baiyupao Wetland Park 白渔泡湿地公园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A national wetland park of about 3.3 square kilometres in Juyuan town, Daowai District, mostly reed marsh and open water north-east of Harbin.
• Dadingzi Mountain Hot Spring Resort 大顶子山温泉度假村 4A scenic area · on the map
  A modern hot-spring resort beside the Songhua River in Hulan district, built around a large indoor spa hall with an 800 sq m pool and many types of hot-spring bath.
• Dragon Tower 龙塔 4A scenic area · on the map
  A 336 m steel lattice tower for television and radio, opened in 2000, which is among the tallest lattice towers in the world.
• Erlongshan Scenic Area 二龙山风景区 4A scenic area · on the map
  A lake-and-hill scenic area around the Erlong reservoir in Binxian County, east of Harbin; the dam was built between 1958 and 1974, and the lake gives the area its name.
• Feihe Harbin Smart Industrial Park 飞鹤（哈尔滨）智能产业园 4A scenic area · on the map
  An industrial-tourism park built around a plant of Feihe, a Heilongjiang infant-formula and dairy company, in Shuangcheng district south of Harbin.
• Harbin Beer Museum 哈尔滨啤酒博物馆 4A scenic area · on the map
  A three-storey museum at the Budweiser Harbin brewery in Pingfang District, telling the story of Harbin Beer, which dates from 1900 and is billed as China's earliest beer brand.
• Harbin Northern Forest Zoo 哈尔滨北方森林动物园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A forest zoo in the hills of Acheng district that opened on 28 September 2004 to replace Harbin's old city zoo.
• Harbin Polarland 哈尔滨极地公园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A polar-themed animal park in Songbei district beside Sun Island, which trades as Harbin Polarland and was formerly known as the Harbin Polar Museum.
• Heilongjiang Science and Technology Museum 黑龙江省科技馆 4A scenic area · on the map
  A ship-shaped science museum on the north bank of the Songhua River, opened in August 2003, with about 13,000 square metres of permanent galleries, a domed-screen cinema and a 4D cinema.
• Huazishan Geological Forest Park 铧子山地质森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A forested mountain park in Tonghe County, named after its plough-blade-shaped peaks (huazi means ploughshare), with the Dahuazi, Erhuazi and Sanhuazi summits and a highest point of 680.7 m.
• Jiguanshan Scenic Area 鸡冠山景区 4A scenic area · on the map
  A forested hill area in Mulan County, north-east of Harbin, made up of a geopark, a forest park and the remains of a base of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army.
• Jinlongshan National Forest Park 金龙山国家森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A national forest park in the hills south-east of Harbin, approved in 2007, whose main peak, Jinlong Mountain, reaches 826 m.
• Maple Leaf Town Hot Spring Resort 枫叶小镇温泉度假村 4A scenic area · on the map
  A hot-spring resort in Harbin's northern Songbei district with thermal bathing pools.
• Meilidao Hot Spring Water Park 美丽岛温泉水乐园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A hot-spring and water-park resort at Liaodian in Acheng district.
• Phoenix Mountain National Forest Park 凤凰山国家森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A forest park of about 50,000 ha in the mountains of southern Wuchang, run by the Shanhetun Forestry Bureau and also designated a national geological park.
• Pingshan Forest Tourism Area 森工平山 4A scenic area · on the map
  A forest recreation area in the hills of Acheng district, centred on a semi-wild deer park where more than a thousand sika and red deer roam and visitors can feed them, according to the district government.
• Poseidon Resort 波塞冬旅游度假区 4A scenic area · on the map
  A Greek-myth-themed resort in the Harbin New Area north of the Songhua, opened in stages from 2017.
• Provence Lavender Manor 普罗旺斯薰衣草庄园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A flower park of about 1,200 mu (around 80 hectares) on rolling hills in Xiangyang town, Xiangfang District, planted with lavender, salvia, verbena and some 70 kinds of ornamental flowers.
• Siberian Tiger Park 东北虎林园 4A scenic area
  A tiger park and breeding centre on the north bank of the Songhua River, covering about 80 hectares and open to visitors since 1996.
• Songfengshan Scenic Area 松峰山 4A scenic area · on the map
  A forested mountain south-east of Harbin, whose main peak, Chimney Peak, is 627 m, long used as a Daoist retreat.
• Sunac Park, Harbin 融创乐园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A large theme park in Songbei district, part of the Sunac tourism and residential development.
• Unit 731 Museum and Former Headquarters 侵华日军第七三一部队罪证陈列馆 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  The site of Unit 731, an Imperial Japanese Army unit that developed biological weapons and carried out human experiments, whose base here dates from 1936 and whose buildings were mostly blown up in August 1945.
• Volga Manor 伏尔加庄园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A Russian-themed estate of about 60 hectares on the Ashi River in Xiangfang District, built by a private company over more than twenty years.
• Xianglushan Forest Park 香炉山国家森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A forest park in the southern hills of Binxian County, named after its main peak, which is shaped like an incense burner and rises to 790 m.
• Yabuli Ski Resort 亚布力滑雪旅游度假区 4A scenic area
  A ski resort in the Zhangguangcai range, laid out across three linked peaks of 1,374 m, 1,258 m and 1,000 m, and also a national winter-sports training base.
• Yingjie Scenic Area 英杰风景区 4A scenic area · on the map
  A hot-spring and leisure resort in a wooded valley at Youlian village, Binxian County, with a hot-spring complex of 54 indoor and outdoor pools, an indoor water park and a winter snow-play and ski area.
• Acheng Mosque 阿城清真寺 National heritage site · on the map
  A mosque in central Acheng, west of Qingzhen Square, whose compound dates from the late Qing dynasty.
• Former Front Command Post of the Northeast Democratic Allied Army, Shuangcheng 东北民主联军前线指挥部旧址 National heritage site · on the map
  A courtyard compound in the town of Shuangcheng, built in 1917 as a private residence, which served from 1946 to 1948 as the front command post of the Northeast Democratic Allied Army, later the Fourth Field Army.
• Harbin Confucius Temple 哈尔滨文庙 National heritage site
  A Qing-style temple complex built in 1926–29, described as the largest Confucian temple in north-east China, laid out along a central axis from a pool and the Lingxing Gate to the Dacheng Hall and the Chongsheng Shrine.
• Harbin Jewish Heritage Sites 哈尔滨犹太人活动旧址群 National heritage site · on the map
  Fourteen buildings in Harbin's Daoli and Nangang districts record the Jewish community that settled in the city from the early 1900s and was one of the largest in the Far East until it dwindled in the 1950s.
• Heilongjiang Provincial Museum (Former Moscow Market) 黑龙江省博物馆 National heritage site · on the map
  A Baroque-style building put up as the Moscow Market, a commercial building of Harbin's Russian era, and used as a museum since the early 1920s.
• Northeast Martyrs' Memorial Hall 东北烈士纪念馆 National heritage site
  A three-storey neoclassical building put up in 1928–31 as a library and later used as the Harbin police headquarters under the Japanese-controlled state of Manchukuo, which has been a memorial hall since 1948.
• Shangjing Huiningfu, Jin Dynasty Capital 金上京会宁府遗址 National heritage site · on the map
  The first capital of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty, used from 1115 until the court moved to Yanjing (Beijing) in 1153.
• Yagou Cliff Carvings 亚沟石刻 National heritage site · on the map
  Two line-engraved figures cut into neighbouring rock faces at the south foot of Shiren (Stone Man) Hill, east of Acheng: a man in a helmet and a narrow-sleeved robe holding a short sword, about 1.85 m tall, and a woman beside him whose figure is worn.
• Yiyuan Street No. 1 Mansion (Revolutionary Leaders Memorial Hall) 颐园街一号欧式建筑 National heritage site · on the map
  A French classical-revival mansion built in 1919–23 for a Russian timber merchant and later used by Japanese intelligence during the Manchukuo period.

Getting to Harbin

Train, flight and driving times from the cities most visitors come from, with stations, fares and how many run a day; each opens the full comparison.

• Mudanjiang 牡丹江 high-speed train 1 h 30 min, 48 a day, from ¥105
• Erdaobaihe 二道白河 high-speed train 3 h 31 min, 3 a day, from ¥221
• Shenyang 沈阳 high-speed train 2 h 1 min, 86 a day, from ¥279
• Hailar 海拉尔 train 9 h 19 min, 4 a day, from ¥102; one nonstop flight a day, 1 h 30 min in the air
• Beijing 北京 high-speed train 4 h 33 min, 31 a day, from ¥605; 19 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 5 min in the air
• Tianjin 天津 high-speed train 6 h 18 min, 32 a day, from ¥524; 4 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 10 min in the air
• Qingdao 青岛 high-speed train 10 h 53 min, 2 a day, from ¥823; 11 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 15 min in the air

Where you can get to from Harbin in a day · All routes

On the map

Open Harbin on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Official website
• Wikipedia (Chinese)