Hegang

General Information

Hegang, (also Ho-kang) in located in northeastern China, Heilongjiang Province. Located in the Xiao Hinggan Ling (Lesser Khingan Range) south of the Russian border, it is one of the major coal-producing centers of China.

Nature

Hegang is a mountain city, and mountainous regions make up 70 percent of its total area, where quality timber trees, such as Korean pine and Manchurian ash, grow in natural forests, as well as edible mountain herbs and ginseng. In its waters, aquatic products such as the huso sturgeon and chum salmon swim. In remote antiquity, its luxuriant water plants attracted cranes, who made it their habitat, hence its name (Hegang meaning Crane Hill in Chinese). The Weichang Red-crowned Crane Nature Reserve, located 40 kilometers from downtown Hegang, is one of the three major habitats of waterfowl in Heilongjiang Province.

Economy

Hegang is a city rich in natural resources. It has proven reserves of 3 billion tons of coal, its main mineral resource, which are estimated to last at least 100 years.

History

Coal mining was begun here in 1916. In the late 1920s a railroad was built linking the city with industrial centers to the south.

Tourism

The city was originally established, and subsequently prospered, on the basis of its coal mining industry, but these days it has many other features that attract and impress its numerous visitors.Over the short span of a few years, Hegang has emerged, by means of its urban construction, and attracted visitors from numerous cities within and without the province.

Attractive points

On arriving in Hegang, one is pleasantly surprised by its clean, neat streets, imposing high-rise buildings, and garden-like square - not at all typical features of a small coal-producing city in a remote frontier area. One is also conscious of flowing order amidst the pulsating life of the city as the busy stream of daily traffic proceeds smoothly along its central thoroughfare.