Harbin

Harbin is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang province in the northeastern region of the Peoples Republic of China. Holding subprovincial administrative status, Harbin has direct jurisdiction over nine metropolitan districts, two countylevel cities and seven counties. Harbin is the eighth most populous Chinese city and the most populous city in Northeast China. According to the 2010 census, the builtup area made of seven out of nine urban districts had 5,282,093 inhabitants, while the total population of the subprovincial city was up to 10,635,971. Harbin serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural, and communications hub in Northeast China, as well as an important industrial base of the nation.

Human settlement in Harbin area dates from at least 2200 BC during the late Stone Age. Wanyan Aguda, the founder and first emperor of Jin dynasty from 1115 to 1123, was born in the Jurchen Wanyan tribes who resided near the Ashi River in this region. In 1115 CE, Aguda established Jins capital Shangjing Huining Prefecture in todays Acheng District of Harbin. After Agudas death, the new emperor Wanyan Sheng ordered to build a new city on uniform plan. The planning and construction emulated major Chinese cities, in particular Bianjing , although the Jin capital was smaller than its Northern Song prototype. Huining Prefecture served as the first superior capital of the empire until the capital was moved to Yanjing in 1153 by Wanyan Liang . Liang even went so far as to destroy all palaces in his former capital in 1157. Wanyan Liangs successor Wanyan Yong restored the city and established it as a secondary capital in 1173. Ruins of the Shangjing Huining Prefecture were discovered and exca

Source: Wikipedia