Heilongjiang Province is called Hei for short, with Harbin as its provincial capital. With expanse of flatland and wide areas of fertile black soil, it is one of China’s major commodity grain growers. Named after its largest river, its land area includes the country’s largest oil reserve. Heilongjiang Province is blessed with a variety of unique tourist attractions, including the Wudalian Pond, an internationally known natural volcanic park; the Jingbo Lake, China’s largest alpine dammed lake; the vast Xingkai Lake stretching over China and Russia; the Manchurian Crane Sanctuary, well known inside and outside of China; a beautiful, scenic forest under a volcanic crater; and the Polar Village, where the mysterious aurora borealis can be observed. Harbin’s annual Snow Festival adds charm to the beautiful northern landscape with the perfect harmony of its natural ice and snow scenery and the exquisite man-made ice sculptures. The boundless great plain, the magnificent forests, snow-bound mountains, countless precious wild animals like swan red-crowned crane, Northeast Tiger, and Northeast Leopard as well as the unique local culture are attracting thousands of tourists home and abroad. Harbin is the tenth largest city in China, and beyond question one of the most idiosyncratic. From a fusion of Russian and Chinese cultures has sprung a city full of surprises unlike any other major metropolis in the world. It lies on the southern bank of the Songhua River and is the capital of the Heilongjiang Province in northeast China, acting as the political, economic and cultural centre of the northeast. In the winter, it is also becoming the center for winter activities like ski, skate, winter-swimming, watching ice lantern and ice sculptures, etc. In 1998, the city was awarded as one of the best tourist city in China. Every year starting from January 5 and lasting for one month, it is the Harbin's Ice and Snow Festival (since 1985), lots of celebrations will be held during the period. Many tourists from home and abroad come to visit this legendary "Ice City". Now the "Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival" has become one of the world's four largest ice and snow festivals, along with Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada's Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway's Ski Festival. Jilin Province is situated in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere, at the northernmost section of the temperate zone in China near the Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan. As a result, the province enjoys a generally temperate continental climate. Jilin has cold, long winter; warm, short and rainy summers; windy springs; and autumns with ever-changing weather. Jilin is also the producer of the worldwide famous Three Northeast China Treasures---ginseng, fur of marten and pilous antler.