Jiamusi

Jiamusi (Manchu: ᡤᡳᠶᠠᠮᡠᠰᡳ Chinese: 佳木斯; pinyin: Jiāmùsī [ˌtɕiá.mû.sí]; formerly Kiamusze) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. Located along the middle and lower reaches of the Songhua River, it faces Russia's Khabarovsk Krai across the Ussuri River and the Heilongjiang. In 2018, Jiamusi had a GDP of RMB 101.2 billion with a 4.3% growth rate. Its population was 2,156,505 at the 2020 census whom 862,555 lived in the built up area comprising 4 urban districts. In 1720, Jiamusi was first named Giyamusi (ᡤᡳᠶᠠᠮᡠᠰᡳ, 甲母克寺噶珊，嘉木寺) during the Kangxi period by the Nanai people.[4] The word Giyamusi originally means "inn" in the Manchu language. Because of the harsh climate and short growing season, the region of modern day Jiamusi was largely uncultivated. Since the Qing government opened Manchuria for farming in order to prevent the conquest of the area by Russia, Jiamusi developed as a small trading post under the name Dongxing (東興鎮) since 1888.[4] When Han Chinese and Manchu settlers began to move into the area, Jiamusi became the seat of a county administration, under the name Huachuan in 1910. However, the county seat was moved 30 miles to the north to Haoli (Hegang) after several destructive floods. After the Xinhai Revolution, as the Han Chinese continued to move in, the population of Jiamusi rose rapidly. Jiamusi continued to grow as a commercial center. As Jiamusi has become the largest harbor along the lower reaches of the Songhua River, a road system was constructed in order to provide convenient transport linking Jiamusi to several other important strongholds in northeastern China including Harbin and Nancha.