Qitaihe 七台河市

Setting and landscape

The land is high to the north and south and low in the middle. The Woken River (倭肯河), a right-bank tributary of the Songhua (松花江), crosses the prefecture and runs through the city with its tributaries, while the Naoli River (挠力河), which feeds the Ussuri (乌苏里江), flows through the east. The coalfield beneath stretches for over a hundred kilometres; the city government says it is one of three coalfields in China listed for protective mining.

History

Under the Ming the area belonged to the Ouhanhe Guard (呕罕河卫), Ouhan being the old name of the Woken, and under the Qing it answered to Sanxing (三姓), today's Yilan (依兰). Residents found the Boli coalfield in 1910, and Boli County (勃利县) was set up in 1918. Large-scale mining began in 1958, the year a railway financed by Boli County itself opened, which the city calls China's first locally run railway. Qitaihe became a special district in 1965, a county-level city in 1970 and a city under direct provincial administration in 1983.

Short-track speed skating took root in the 1970s: Meng Qingyu (孟庆余) set up an amateur skating team in 1974, and Qitaihe went on to train skaters such as Yang Yang (杨扬), Wang Meng (王濛) and Fan Kexin (范可新). The city government records Yang Yang's 500-metre win at Salt Lake City on 16 February 2002 as China's first Winter Olympic gold.

What to see

In the central Taoshan District (桃山区), Taoshan (桃山), Xiandong (仙洞山) and Wanbao (万宝山) hills stand in a triangle around Wanbao Lake (万宝湖) and Taoshan Lake (桃山湖); in 2025 the city laid out an 11-kilometre ice course on Taoshan Lake for winter events such as ice dragon-boat racing. The city also points visitors to its short-track champions' hall (短道速滑冠军馆), the city museum and Wusihun River National Forest Park (乌斯浑河国家森林公园).

Food and local products

The head of the city's culture and tourism bureau recommends Qitaihe turtle pot (七台河龟锅), cooked in a cast-iron pot and praised for its charred, rich flavour, and Boli hot noodles (勃利热面), chewy and savoury.

Getting oriented

The city government sits in Taoshan District. Harbin lies to the west, Jiamusi to the north, Shuangyashan to the east, and Jixi and Mudanjiang to the south.

Highlights

• Taoshan Lake 桃山湖: Lake in the central Taoshan District, set among three hills; the city laid out an 11-km ice course on it for winter events in 2025.
• Wusihun River National Forest Park 乌斯浑河国家森林公园: Forest park the city recommends to visitors.
• Qitaihe turtle pot 七台河龟锅: Local dish cooked in a cast-iron pot, praised by the city for its charred, rich flavour.