Manzhouli ( zh, s=满洲里; ; ) is a

sub-prefectural city A sub-prefectural municipality (), sub-prefectural city, or vice-prefectural municipality, is an unofficial designation for a type of administrative division of China. A sub-prefectural city is officially considered to be a county-level city, bu ...

located in

Hulunbuir Hulunbuir or Hulun Buir, ''Hūlúnbèi'ěr''; , ''Khulunbuir'' is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Its administrative center is located at Hailar District, its largest urban area. Major scenic features are the high ...

prefecture-level city, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. Located on the border with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, it is a major land

port of entry In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border control, border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not impo ...

. It has an area of and a population of almost 250,000 (in 2010).

History

In ancient times, the area was inhabited by the Donghu,

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

, Khitan, Jurchen,

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

s and

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

. During the decline of China's last dynasty, the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

forced the

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

(1644–1912) to cede

Outer Manchuria Outer Manchuria, sometimes called Russian Manchuria, refers to a region in Northeast Asia that is now part of the Russian Far East but historically formed part of Manchuria (until the mid-19th century). While Manchuria now more normatively refer ...

in the 1858

Treaty of Aigun The Treaty of Aigun was an 1858 treaty between the Russian Empire and Yishan, official of the Qing dynasty of China. It established much of the modern border between the Russian Far East and China by ceding much of Manchuria (the ancestral h ...

. That treaty made the Argun River, which originates in the area, the border between China and Russia. In 1901, the China Far East Railway was completed in accordance with the Sino-Russian Secret Treaty of 1896, linking

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

, and the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

. A settlement then formed around Manchzhuriya Station, the first stop within Manchuria for Russians. It was the beginning of the modern city of Manzhouli and the name of Manzhouli came from

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

''Манжули'' (Manzhuli). In 1905, Manzhouli was designated a trading center, greatly boosting Manzhouli's growth. In 1908, the Manzhouli customs post was set up. Under the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, Manzhouli (under the name ''Lubin'' c=臚濱, p=Lúbīn, w=Lu2-pin1, labels=no came under the jurisdiction of the province of Hsingan. In 1927, Manzhouli was designated as a city. In 1931, Manzhouli came under Japanese control and, with Hsingan and surrounding areas, became part of the Empire of Manchuria, a Japanese puppet state from 1932 to 1945. With the defeat of Japan at the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the Chinese government made Manzhouli part of

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

in 1946. In 1992, Manzhouli became one of the first land border cities opened up by the People's Republic of China. It has since experienced a boom as a conduit for the increasing trade between China and Russia. It became even more important with the surge in cross-border trade to help ease the effect of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. In 2017, the Manzhouli Stadium opened. The football stadium has a capacity of 20,153.

Geography and climate

Manzhouli is located in the western part of the

prefecture-level city. To the east, south and west it borders New Barag Left Banner and New Barag Right Banner, also in Hulunbuir, and

to the north, with which it shares a border long. The Russian townlet of Zabaykalsk is situated immediately north of Abagaitu Islet and Manzhouli. Manzhouli is located on the Hulunbuir grasslands. Lake Hulun to its immediate south is the PRC's fifth largest freshwater lake with an area of and an average depth of just . Manzhouli has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

(''BSk''), with temperatures in winter capable of plummeting below . However, in each month there is more than 55% of possible sunshine, and over three-fourths of annual precipitation occurs from June to August.

Administration

Manzhouli is divided into five

subdistrict A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, Ind ...

s and one

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

. *Others: **Manzhouli Mutual Trade Zone (满洲里市互市贸易区) **Manzhouli Economic Cooperation Zone (满洲里市经济合作区) **Manzhouli Comprehensive Bonded Zone (满洲里综合保税区)

Tourism

The border crossing with Russia is a tourist attraction. The Manzhouli China-Russia Border Tourist Area is a destination that brings together the border gate, a giant

Matryoshka doll Matryoshka dolls (), also known as stacking dolls, nesting dolls, Russian tea dolls, or Russian dolls, are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside another. The name ''Matryoshka'' is a diminutive form of ''Matryosha'' (), i ...

shaped hotel, and park filled with Matryoshka dolls. Other attractions within the scenic area are the No 41 Border Monument and the Locomotive Square. It has been rated as a AAAAA (5A) tourist attraction. Manzhouli Ice & Snow Festival takes place every winter from some time in February to early March. This is a smaller version of the

Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival The Harbin International Ice and Snow festival () is an annual winter festival that takes place in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, and is now the largest ice and snow festival in the world. The festival includes the popular attraction Ice and Snow ...

. There is a replica of the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

monument, ''

The Motherland Calls ''The Motherland Calls'' () is a colossal neoclassicism, neoclassicist and socialist realism, socialist realist war memorial sculpture on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, Russia. Designed primarily by sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich with assistance fro ...

''.

Economy

Manzhouli is China's busiest land

, and is responsible for 60% of all imports from and exports to

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

Demographics

Ninety-five percent of Manzhouli's population is

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

. The remainder are Buryat,

, or of other ethnicities.

Media

Much of the plot of the 2018 film '' An Elephant Sitting Still'' revolves around a number of characters traveling to a circus in Manzhouli.

Transportation

Railway

The Chinese rail system, with a track gage of , meets the Russian rail system, with track gauge of , at Manzholi. That

break of gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and railroad car, rolling stock g ...

means that trains cannot run through. To help cope with the problem in the face of increasing cross-border rail traffic, a

multi-modal

transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...

facility was completed in 2008 on the Russian side of the border in Zabaikalsk. Trains from

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

on the Trans-Manchurian branch of the

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway, historically known as the Great Siberian Route and often shortened to Transsib, is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway ...

pass through Manzhouli Railway Station. There are also tourist lines to Chita, Krasnokamensk,

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

, and Ulan Ude.

Air

Manzhouli Xijiao Airport is located in the western part of the city. Passengers can fly to

and

's capital city

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the Capital (political), capital of Inner Mongolia in the North China, north of the China, People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrativ ...

from the airport as well as the Russian city of Chita and the

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

n capital city

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

via Choibalsan.

Highway

*By China National Highway 301 linked to

and

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

Education

Secondary schools include: * Manzhouli No. 7 (满洲里市第七中学) * Manzhouli No. 8 School (满洲里市第八学校) * Manzhouli No. 11 (满洲里市第十一中学)

Sister cities

Manzhouli is twinned with the following sister cities. * Chita,

Zabaykalsky Krai Zabaykalsky Krai is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the Russian Far East. Its administrative center is Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai, Chita. As of the Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census, the population was ...

, Russia * Krasnokamensk,

, Russia *

Ulan-Ude Ulan-Ude (; , ; , ) is the capital city of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River, Buryatia, Uda River at its confluence with the Selenga River, Selenga. According to the Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census, 43 ...

Buryatia Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia, is a republic of Russia located in the Russian Far East. Formerly part of the Siberian Federal District, it has been administered as part of the Far Eastern Federal District since 2018. To its nort ...

, Russia

References

External links

Official Site
(Simplified Chinese)
Information Portal
(Simplified Chinese)

Manzhouli: Photos and observations
Manzhouli : City of the Plain
Pictures and Stories of a trip to Manzhouli at www.pocopico.com
Post codes of Inner Mongolia
(English) {{Authority control Cities in Inner Mongolia China–Russia border crossings Hulunbuir National Civilized City