Portfilio 2-the Songhua River

Songhua River on the east of Harbin. Oxbow lakes are common along the sides of the river.



the section of Songhua River across Harbin



the dam of the Fengman Reservoir on the Songhuajiang River in Jilin





Gui fish baked with cream


The Songhua River is the largest tributary of the Heilong River in Northeast China, flowing from Changbai Mountains through the Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces. The river has a dam at Fengman, being used for hydroelectricity production. Below the dam, the river flows northwest until its largest tributary, the Nen River, which flows into the northern Manchurian Plain. The flatness of the Manchurian Plain causes the river to meander widely, so the river is surrounded by a wide plain that is filled with curves, showing paths of the River. The Songhua River is mainly used for transportation is navigable up to Harbin. However, when I was in Harbin, I only saw the frozen Songhua River instead of the flowing one since I was there during the winter. I watched the wonderful ice sculptures in Harbin being made of a great number of ice blocks from the Songhua River. Sculptors collected ice blocks from the upstream of Songhua River and transported to Harbin. The ice blocks were so transparent, showing the cleanness of the river. However, in 2005, the Songhua River was not as clean as it is now; it was contaminated with benzene at that time, leading to lack of water supply towards the local people. Once the river’s cleanness was recovered again, not only people had enough fresh water, but also fish industries were run regularly. Among the plenty fishes in the river, Gui fish is famous, which tastes delicious. Because of that, most tourists in Harbin go to the Huamei Restaurant—a Russian restaurant in Zhongyang Avenue, to have a taste. For me, I also went there and had their recommended dish— Gui fish baked with cream.