Harbin is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province inNortheast China, as well as the tenth most populated city in the People'sRepublic of China. According to the 20__ China census data, the city's urbanarea has 5,878,939 inhabitants, while the total population of the sub-provincialcity is up to 10,635,971. Harbin serves as a key political, economic,scientific, cultural and communications hub in Northeast China.
Harbin, which is originally a Manchu word meaning "a place for dryingfishing nets", grew from a small rural settlement on theSonghua River to becomeone of the largest cities in Northeast China. Founded by Russia in 1898 with thecoming of the Trans-Manchurian Railway, today known as the Chinese EasternRailway, the city first prospered as a region inhabited by an overwhelmingmajority of the Jewish immigrants. It is known for its bitterly cold winters andis often called the "Ice City." Harbin is notable for its beautiful icesculptures in winter and its Russian legacy, and it still plays an importantpart in Sino-Russian trade today. In the 1920s, the city was considered China'sfashion capital since new designs from Paris and Moscow reached there firstbefore arriving in Shanghai. In 20__, Harbin was declared a UNESCO "City ofMusic".
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