Qiqihar, also known as the Crane City, derives its name from the Daur language, meaning "natural pasture". It is a key central city in western Heilongjiang Province, a National Famous Historical and Cultural City, and a national comprehensive transportation hub at the junction of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Inner Mongolia. It is widely reputed as the "Hometown of Red-crowned Cranes in China" and the "International Capital of Barbecue Cuisine". Located in the hinterland of the Songnen Plain with the Nenjiang River running through the city, it covers a total area of 42,000 square kilometers and boasts world-class wetland ecology. With cold and magnificent winters and cool and pleasant summers, it is a famous cultural and tourism city in the northern borderland of China, combining natural grace and profound historical heritage.

The cultural heritage of the city can be traced back to the Neolithic Age 7,000 years ago. The world-renowned Ang'angxi Culture bears witness to the origin and prosperity of the fishing and hunting civilization in northern China. Qiqihar was officially founded as a city in 1691, and the Heilongjiang General's Yamen was relocated here in 1699, starting its 255-year history as the provincial capital of Heilongjiang, and making it the military and political core of the northeast borderland of the Qing Dynasty as well as a key town for resisting Russian invasion and garrisoning the border. In modern times, the Jiangqiao Anti-Japanese War, led by General Ma Zhanshan, fired the first shot of China's armed resistance against Japanese aggression here, forging the heroic blood of the city. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, as a key old industrial base built during the First and Second Five-Year Plan periods, it is home to a number of national pillar enterprises including China First Heavy Industries and CRRC Qiqihar Rolling Stock Co., Ltd., upholding the responsibility of the "eldest son of the People's Republic" and supporting the backbone of the country's equipment manufacturing industry.

Today, Qiqihar is the core position for the global conservation of red-crowned cranes, with crane culture deeply integrated into the city's spirit. 36 indigenous ethnic groups including the Daur, Ewenki and Kirgiz have lived and multiplied here for generations, with in-depth integration of fishing and hunting, nomadic and farming cultures. The border culture of the Liao and Jin dynasties, the modern civilization of the Chinese Eastern Railway, and the red anti-Japanese war culture enhance each other's beauty, shaping the unique temperament of this ancient northern border city, which boasts the vastness of the grassland, the grace of rivers, the profoundness of history and the authentic hustle and bustle of local life.

Located in the southeastern suburb of Qiqihar, Zhalong National Nature Reserve covers a total area of 210,000 hectares. It is the largest reed wetland in Asia and the fourth largest in the world, as well as China's first nature reserve focusing on the red-crowned crane as the main protection target. It was among the first batch of sites inscribed on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance in 1992, and was awarded the national AAAAA-level tourist attraction in 2024, serving as the core carrier of Qiqihar's reputation as the "Crane City". The name "Zhalong" originates from the Daur language, associated with an ancient legend of a giant dragon protecting the local land. For thousands of years, it has been a fishing and hunting ground for ethnic minorities such as the Daur and Mongolian people, forming the original ecological wisdom of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

As the world's largest breeding and habitat for red-crowned cranes, Zhalong is home to 6 of the 15 existing crane species in the world, among which the wild red-crowned crane population accounts for nearly one fifth of the global total, making it the core position for global crane conservation and research. The original ecological wetland here, formed by the overflow of the Wuyuer River, features vast reed marshes and scattered lakes, where more than 260 species of birds live and breed, forming a complete wetland ecosystem. For decades, generations of crane protectors, represented by martyr Xu Xiujuan, have stuck to their posts here, writing touching stories between humans and cranes and forming a unique crane culture. Today, the wild training and flight demonstrations of red-crowned cranes, the wetland science museum, and crane culture themed exhibitions in the scenic area have made it a world benchmark for wetland eco-tourism integrating ecological protection, science education, cultural tourism and sightseeing, and even more the spiritual symbol of Qiqihar's urban culture.

Heilongjiang General's Mansion was first built in the 34th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1695), under the auspices of Sabusu, the first Heilongjiang General. It was relocated to Qiqihar City along with the Heilongjiang General's Yamen in 1699, serving as the official residence and office of the highest military and political chief of Heilongjiang region in the Qing Dynasty. It is one of the few existing Qing Dynasty border general's mansions in China, witnessing more than 200 years of governance history of the northeast border. During the operation of the mansion, the Qing government appointed a total of 76 Heilongjiang Generals, 71 of whom were stationed and worked here, including Sabusu, the meritorious general of the Battle of Yaksa, and General Shoushan, who died for his country in the fight against Russian invasion, each closely linked to the safety and honor of the northeast border.

This mansion was not only the core of the military and political system of northeast China in the Qing Dynasty, but also the command center for resisting Tsarist Russia's aggression, witnessing the complete history of border governance in the Qing Dynasty. In the 26th year of the Guangxu reign (1900), Qiqihar City fell, and the General's Mansion was occupied by Tsarist Russia for seven years. From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period, it successively served as the resident of military, political, fiscal and taxation core institutions of Heilongjiang Province, fully recording the historical transformation of northeast China from the military prefecture system of the Qing Dynasty to the modern provincial system. Today, the General's Mansion has been relocated to the Mingyue Island Scenic Area, covering an area of 6,300 square meters, fully restoring the official architectural regulations of the Qing Dynasty. The courtyard displays precious cultural relics and historical materials about the Qing Dynasty's border governance and anti-Russian history. It is not only a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, but also a core exhibition site for the border garrison culture of Heilongjiang Province and an important patriotic education base, carrying the spiritual core of the northern border people's perseverance in guarding the territory.

Located in Ang'angxi District of Qiqihar, the Ang'angxi Site is a Neolithic site dating back about 7,500 years. It is the core representative of the northern grassland microlithic culture in China, as well as the namesake of the "Ang'angxi Culture". It was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 1988, and is the core witness of the prehistoric civilization in the Nenjiang River Basin. The site was first scientifically excavated in 1930 by Mr. Liang Siyong, a famous Chinese archaeologist. A large number of prehistoric cultural relics including microliths, bone artifacts and pottery were unearthed, filling the gap in Neolithic archaeology of the northern grasslands of China, completely rewriting the academic community's understanding of the prehistoric civilization in northern China, and known as a "milestone in prehistoric archaeology of northern China".

The site complex consists of 22 Neolithic sites and 17 Liao and Jin dynasties sites, with a total area of 75 square kilometers, fully showing the fishing and hunting life scenes of ancient ancestors in the Songnen Plain. The unearthed cultural relics are centered on finely pressed microliths such as stone arrowheads, stone knives and scrapers, matched with fishing and hunting tools such as bone fish darts and bone spearheads, confirming that this is an important birthplace of fishing and hunting civilization in northern China. It has formed a unique grassland fishing and hunting culture system, which has irreplaceable value for the study of prehistoric cultural exchanges in Northeast Asia and the origin of ethnic groups in northern China. Today, the site is equipped with the Ang'angxi Site Museum, which systematically displays prehistoric cultural relics, restoration of archaeological scenes and the context of civilization development. It is not only an important research base for prehistoric archaeology in northern China, but also the source of Qiqihar's cultural heritage, fully presenting the 7,000-year-old Nenjiang civilization, and a core place to explore the root of the northern fishing and hunting culture.

Located in Ang'angxi District of Qiqihar, Rossia Street was first built in 1903 with the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway. With a total length of 1,451 meters, it is the best-preserved and largest Russian-style architectural complex along the Chinese Eastern Railway. It was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in 2013, selected as one of China's Famous Historical and Cultural Streets in 2015, and known as the "First Station of the Chinese Eastern Railway". On both sides of the whole street, there are more than 100 century-old Russian-style buildings, covering various types including residential buildings, stations, churches, clubs and warehouses, and a variety of styles including traditional Russian wooden log cabins, brick Russian-style buildings and Art Nouveau. The details such as carvings, arches and sloping roofs on the building facades are well preserved, making it a rare century-old Russian-style street in China.

As an important ancillary facility of the Chinese Eastern Railway, Ang'angxi Station was once a second-class marshalling station of the railway. At its peak, thousands of Russian nationals settled here, making Rossia Street the core position of non-governmental cultural exchanges between China and Russia at that time. Over the past century, it has witnessed the rise and fall of the Chinese Eastern Railway, the industrial development of modern northeast China, and the non-governmental exchanges between China and Russia, retaining a large number of historical marks of modern industrial civilization and the integration of Chinese and Western cultures. Today's Rossia Street fully retains the street texture and architectural style of a century ago. The century-old Russian-style buildings with exotic charm complement the surrounding original grassland and wetland scenery. It is not only a core exhibition window for the history and culture of the Chinese Eastern Railway, but also a living witness of Sino-Russian cultural exchanges. Walking along the street, the century-old Russian wooden houses set off against the birch forests along the street, as if traveling back to the railway town a hundred years ago, making it a unique landmark of the integration of Qiqihar's modern history and European style.

First built in 1904 under the auspices of Cheng Dequan, the Heilongjiang General of the late Qing Dynasty, Longsha Park was originally named Cangxi Park and renamed Longsha Park in 1917, derived from the meaning of "the general goes out of the fortress, crossing the vast dragon sand desert for thousands of miles". It is the earliest urban park built in Heilongjiang Province, one of the oldest comprehensive urban parks in northeast China, a national AAAA-level tourist attraction, and known as the "Famous Garden Beyond the Great Wall". Covering an area of 64 hectares, the park integrates classical gardens, historical sites, ecological landscapes and leisure and entertainment. For a century, it has been the urban green lung of Qiqihar and the core position of citizens' cultural life, carrying the urban memory of generations of people in the Crane City.

The park is dotted with historical sites and has an extremely profound cultural heritage. Wangjiang Tower, located by the Laodong Lake in the park, was first built in 1907. Climbing the tower, you can have a panoramic view of the whole Nenjiang River and the urban scenery, making it a classic urban landmark of Qiqihar. Shou Gong Shrine, first built in 1926, was built to commemorate General Shoushan, the Heilongjiang General who died for his country in the fight against Russian invasion. With grey bricks and tiles, it is solemn and solemn, fully displaying the historical materials of General Shoushan's life, and is an important patriotic education base in Heilongjiang Province. The ancient buildings such as the Library Building, Chengjiang Pavilion and Tianyuan Pavilion in the park are all classic buildings from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period, integrating the grandeur of northern classical gardens and the exquisiteness of Jiangnan gardens. Today's Longsha Park boasts blooming flowers in spring, lush green trees in summer, layered colorful forests in autumn, and the "Longsha Ice Scene" ice and snow paradise in winter, with magnificent scenery in all four seasons. For a century, it has not only been a model of urban gardens, but also an important carrier of Qiqihar's history and culture. Local temple fairs, folk performances, calligraphy and painting exhibitions are held all year round, making it a core place where the local culture of the Crane City is deeply integrated with citizens' life.

Located on the bank of the Nenjiang River in Qiqihar, facing the main urban area across the river, Heping Square was built in 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. With a total area of 41,400 square meters, it is one of the largest anti-Japanese war themed memorial squares in northeast China, and the core landmark of Qiqihar's red culture. With the core theme of "remembering history, honoring martyrs, cherishing peace and creating the future", it fully displays the heroic epic of the Jiangqiao Anti-Japanese War and the glorious 14-year anti-Japanese war history of the military and people in northeast China, and is an important national patriotic education base.

After the Mukden Incident in 1931, General Ma Zhanshan, the acting chairman of Heilongjiang Province at that time, led the garrison at the Nenjiang River Bridge in Qiqihar to fire the first organized and large-scale armed shot of Chinese troops against Japanese aggression. The Jiangqiao Anti-Japanese War became a landmark event in the history of China's Anti-Japanese War, and Heping Square was built to commemorate this period of history. The core landscapes of the square include the Anti-Japanese War Memorial Wall, Victory Monument, bronze statue of General Ma Zhanshan, Jiangqiao Anti-Japanese War Monument, and General Handprint Wall. Among them, the Anti-Japanese War Memorial Wall consists of 6 reliefs, vividly reproducing the historical scenes of the Jiangqiao Anti-Japanese War and the bloody battles of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. The 3,000-square-meter memorial wall is engraved with the names and handprints of thousands of anti-Japanese war veterans, becoming a precious carrier for remembering history. Today's Heping Square is not only a core position for commemorating the anti-Japanese war and inheriting the red spirit, but also an urban public cultural space along the Nenjiang River. The riverside scenery is perfectly integrated with the red memorial landscape, and patriotic education activities and red themed performances are held all year round, ensuring the heroic spirit of the Jiangqiao Anti-Japanese War is passed down from generation to generation, and making it the core symbol of the heroic urban spirit of Qiqihar.

Also known as the Big Buddha Temple, Dacheng Temple is located in Tiefeng District of Qiqihar. Construction began in 1939 and was officially completed in 1943. It is one of the largest existing Buddhist building complexes with glazed tiles in Heilongjiang Province. Together with Jile Temple in Harbin, Bore Temple in Changchun and Ci'en Temple in Shenyang, it is known as the "Four Great Buddhist Temples in Northeast China". It was listed as a National Key Buddhist Temple in 1983, and is one of the core places for the spread and inheritance of Buddhist culture in northeast China. The temple was built under the auspices of Master Xu, a senior monk of the Tiantai School. After more than 80 years of wind and rain, it fully retains the architectural regulations and cultural context of modern Buddhist temples, and is a classic work of Buddhist architecture in northern China.

Covering an area of 53,000 square meters, the whole temple adopts a north-south facing central axis symmetrical layout, consisting of the Mountain Gate, Hall of Heavenly Kings, Mahavira Hall, Buddhist Sutra Library, Thousand-Hand Guanyin Hall and other buildings. The overall architecture integrates the grandeur of northern official architecture and the solemnity of Buddhist temples, with grey bricks and yellow glazed tiles, upturned eaves and bracket sets, presenting a magnificent momentum. The most distinctive feature of the temple is its Eight Trigrams architectural layout, with the Mahavira Hall as the core and the auxiliary halls distributed in the Eight Trigrams directions, which is extremely rare among Buddhist temples in China. It perfectly integrates traditional Buddhist culture and Zhouyi culture, with extremely high architectural artistic value. The temple houses a large number of precious cultural relics including Buddhist classics, Buddha statues and stone carvings. Among them, the wood-carved Thousand-Hand Guanyin statue in the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Hall has exquisite craftsmanship and solemn beauty, and is a classic work of Buddhist statues in northeast China. For more than 80 years, Dacheng Temple has not only been a pilgrimage site for Buddhist believers in northeast China, but also an important carrier of Qiqihar's folk culture. Annual Buddhist dharma assemblies and folk temple fairs are held here, where Buddhist culture is deeply integrated with the local folk customs of northeast China, making it a famous landmark that perfectly combines religious culture and humanistic landscape in the Crane City.

Located in the middle reaches of the Nenjiang River in the northwest of Qiqihar urban area, Mingyue Island Scenic Area is a river island surrounded by water on all sides in the Nenjiang River, with a total area of 7.66 square kilometers. It gets its name because the island is shaped like a bright moon reflected on the water surface of the Nenjiang River. Together with Sun Island in Harbin, it is known as the "Sister Islands of Songnen Plain". It is a national AAAAA-level tourist attraction, as well as a core scenic area of Qiqihar combining natural ecology and humanistic history. Originally named Sishui Island, as early as the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was a key water transportation route in the Nenjiang River Basin, where ethnic minorities such as the Daur and Manchu people fished, hunted and lived, leaving rich marks of water culture in the Nenjiang River Basin.

The island boasts unique natural scenery, surrounded by the Nenjiang River with lush forests. Grasslands, wetlands, lakes and woodlands are interlaced, forming a complete original natural ecosystem. It features vast blue waves and lush vegetation in summer, and is covered with snow and ice in winter, with unique scenery in all four seasons. The island has an extremely profound humanistic and historical heritage. The core ancient building complex, Wanshan Temple, was first built in the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt many times in the Qing Dynasty, with a history of more than 400 years. The temple consists of the Jade Emperor Pavilion, Baiyang Pavilion, Three Stars Pavilion and Sanqing Pavilion, collectively known as the "Zhongling Ancient Courtyard". The architecture integrates Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian cultures, with carved beams and painted rafters, simple and solemn, and is one of the few existing ancient building complexes of the Ming and Qing dynasties in the Nenjiang River Basin. In addition, the ancient building complex of Heilongjiang General's Mansion is fully restored on the island, which systematically displays the history of Heilongjiang's border garrison in the Qing Dynasty, complementing the natural scenery. Today's Mingyue Island has a variety of experience projects such as a retro island-circling small train, cruise ships, wetland hiking, and ice and snow entertainment. It is not only the urban ecological barrier of Qiqihar, but also a tourist resort that perfectly integrates the history and culture of the Nenjiang River Basin with natural scenery, becoming a unique river island secret land of the Crane City.