Les meilleurs hôtels à Harbin

In Manchu dialect, Harbin means "drying fishnets." Once a mere fishing village, this Songhua River port is now the capital of China's far northeastern Heilongjiang Province, which borders on Russia. Harbin history is rather short, the city having only been incorporated since 1898. Under Communism, Harbin has become an industrial center, its factories and processing plants turning out airplanes, automobiles, food, and tobacco. Home to 2.6 million people, Harbin is an education hub as well, though, with 15 universities and research institutes. Heilongjiang winters are six to seven months long. Yet, Harbin-ites put frigid elements to creative use during their famed Ice Sculpture Festival in Zhaolin Park. Permanent local architecture reflects Japanese and Russian occupations of the city, including Orthodox church domes that survived the Cultural Revolution. Summers in Harbin offer swimming in the Songhua River (flowing down from Baitou Mountain), as well as therapeutic retreats on nearby Sun Island, which inspired a popular Chinese song. The Harbin Zoo features China tiger, sable, sika, and other local species.