Heihe

Heihe (zh-cp|c=黑河|p=Hēihé; "Black River") is a city in Heilongjiang, China.

It is located at coord|50|14|42|N|127|28|54|E|region:CN_type:city(160,000), on the Russian border, on the south bank of the Amur River, across the river from the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk. Heihe has a population of about 113,000.

Today Heihe, which forms a free-trade zone with Blagoveshchensk, is a major centre of Sino-Russian trade. Many Russians and Chinese take advantage of Visa-free travel between the cities, which has spurred large unofficial trade between China and Russia. Some inhabitants of Blagoveshchensk have purchased apartments on the Chinese side, as living costs are much lower.

Transportation between Blagoveshchensk and Heihe is by boat in the summer and by bus over the frozen river in the winter; when the ice is too weak to carry buses, the route is operated by hovercrafts.

Administrative Divisions

*Aihui District 爱辉区 Àihuī Qū, location of Dawujia village, home of some of the last remaining native Manchu Language speakers

*Bei'an City 北安市 Běi'ān Shì

*Wudalianchi City 五大连池市 Wǔdàliánchí Shì

*Nenjiang County 嫩江县 Nènjiāng Xiàn

*Xunke County 逊克县 Xùnkè Xiàn

*Sunwu County 孙吴县 Sūnwú Xiàn

ee also

* Aigun