On the northeastern tip of China, Heilongjiang Province lies at higher latitudes than all other provinces of China. It is named after the largest border river between Russia and China - the Heilong River, which demarks a long stretch of the two nations' 3,045 km border.

The Great Xing'an Mountains in Heilongjiang Province [China.org.cn]

The 454,000-sq-km province ranks sixth in size among the nation's provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, and accounts for 4.7 percent of the country's total land area.

Its capital Harbin is a vibrant and open modern city, as well as its political, economic and cultural center.

Heilongjiang has a population of 37.92 million people, comprised of 51 ethnic minorities in addition to the Han people, including Manchu, Korean, Mongolian and Hezhe.

Heilongjiang's 9.6 million hectares of cultivated land, some of the best soil in the country, is more than one-10th of the country's total. Per capita cultivated land area is three times that of the country's average.

It also has the country's largest forest zone, which covers 42.9 percent of the province. A total forested area of 18.8 million hectares holds 1.4 billion cu m of wood. There are more than 100 varieties of wood, including over 30 kinds of timber.

The province has proven reserves of 75 different minerals, 10 of which are the largest known deposits in China - petroleum, graphite, basalt cast stones, basalt asbestos, marble cement, dye loess, volcanic ash, marble and feldspar. Other large deposits include selenium, cadmium, gold, quartz crystals and zeolite.

Its coal reserve is the largest among the northeastern provinces.

Heilongjiang is one of China's richest provinces in water resources. It has numerous lakes and rivers along its boundaries, with a water surface of more than 800,000 hectares in more than 6,000 lakes and reservoirs.

Heilongjiang's river system is one of the country's three largest river systems open to navigation. Its main rivers include the Heilong, Songhua, Nenjiang and Wusuli rivers. Seventy percent of its annual precipitation occurs within crop growing seasons, in which the concurrence of rain and heat provides an excellent environment for grain production.

Most parts of the province lie within a temperate zone. Its mountain areas receive large amounts of snowfall in winter. The snowy season is long and the quality of snow is superb, making Heilongjiang an ideal place for tourists who love ice and snow.

The annual Harbin Ice and Snow Festival features colossal ice-figure engravings and snow sculptures that can almost match the grandeur of nature, while the International Skiing Festival offers many exciting activities on snow.