Why did the capital of Heilongjiang Province move from Qiqihar to Harbin?

Everyone knows that Harbin is the capital of Heilongjiang, but before 1954, the capital of Heilongjiang was in Qiqihar. Compared with Harbin, Qiqihar has declined a lot today, but in the Qing Dynasty and modern times, Qiqihar was also an important town in Northeast China. When Qiqihar flourished, Harbin was just a small fishing village, which was nothing compared with it. In ancient times, the jurisdiction of the Central Plains over the Northeast was very limited, and it was often in a state of imprisonment, that is, nominal jurisdiction. Until the Qing dynasty, the Qing army, which originated in the northeast, entered the customs and banned the birthplace of the customs. In the northeast, there is no province, only the general is in charge. During the reign of Kangxi, there was a general from Heilongjiang.

At that time, the jurisdiction of Heilongjiang generals was not the same as that of Heilongjiang Province now, and the scope was very huge, spanning both sides of Heilongjiang Province. At that time, General Heilongjiang was stationed in what is now Qiqihar, located at the southern edge of General Heilongjiang's jurisdiction. Northeast China is vast and sparsely populated, with a cold climate. Although the jurisdiction of General Heilongjiang is very large, there are not many people, and it is difficult to develop in most places. Therefore, Qiqihar with good conditions has become one of the few important towns. Qiqihar is located in the south, close to Songhua River, with convenient shipping, fertile land and superior conditions. Today's Harbin was not under the jurisdiction of General Heilongjiang at that time, but under the jurisdiction of Jilin General. However, there is Jilin City in Jilin Province, and Harbin is simply disdainful, so the local area has never developed.

Until the end of the Qing dynasty, the national strength of the Qing dynasty was weak, and Russia took advantage of the fire to seize a large area of land north of Heilongjiang and east of Wusuli River in the Qing dynasty. The areas under the jurisdiction of the two generals, Heilongjiang and Jilin, were sharply reduced and retreated on a large scale. Because the jurisdiction of general Heilongjiang was cut down too much, the Qing Dynasty also allocated a lot of jurisdiction to general Heilongjiang. Such a thing made the Qing dynasty aware of the danger of air border defense, so it lifted the ban in the northeast and formally established a province in the northeast. General Heilongjiang's jurisdiction officially became Heilongjiang Province, with Qiqihar as its capital. After the demise of the Qing Dynasty, the capital of Heilongjiang Province was still in Qiqihar. However, during the invasion of Russia in the late Qing Dynasty, the famous Middle East Railway was built, and Harbin, as a land and water transportation hub, developed rapidly.

Since modern times, the division of Northeast China has been changeable, and the specific areas under the jurisdiction of Heilongjiang Province have also changed. Because of this change, Qiqihar has become more and more marginalized. After Harbin entered the boundary of Heilongjiang from Jilin, it quickly became the southern central city of Heilongjiang. Generally speaking, Harbin is getting better and better in all aspects. Later, today's Heilongjiang was divided into Longjiang and Songjiang provinces. The capital of Longjiang is in Qiqihar and the capital of Songjiang is in Harbin. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were two provinces, Heilongjiang and Songjiang. Harbin has surpassed Qiqihar and once became a municipality directly under the central government because of its very high degree of development.

But later, because there were too many municipalities directly under the central government in China, it was inconvenient to manage and wasted resources, so it was cancelled on a large scale. At the same time, the organizational system of Songjiang Province was also revoked and merged into Heilongjiang Province. After the integration, it was decided to change the provincial capital from Qiqihar to Harbin. In terms of historical conditions, Qiqihar is indeed much longer than Harbin, but in modern times, with the Middle East Railway and superior geographical location, Harbin quickly surpassed Qiqihar and came from behind. Moreover, Harbin can become the capital of Heilongjiang, which is also the result of frequent changes in the northeast division. Moving the provincial capital from Qiqihar to Harbin, firstly, is because Harbin's development level and conditions are better, and secondly, because Harbin's location advantage is more obvious. Compared with Qiqihar, which was destroyed by the war, this city is naturally more suitable as the provincial capital.