Nature and Geography

  Harbin’s coordinates are 125°42′-130°10′ east (longitude) and 44°04′-46°40′ north (latitude). The city belongs to the monsoon land climate of the middle latitudes and the average temperature in Harbin is 3.5℃, while its highest and lowest monthly average temperatures are 23.0℃and -21.4℃, respectively.
 
The winters are long and summers are short, which is what earned Harbin its nickname, “Ice City in China.” The annual precipitation is 729.4 mm and the rain falls mainly between June and September with an annual frost-free period whichs lasts 150.4 days.

Located in the Songmen Plain, Harbin occupies 45.3 percent of the plain’s total area, with a cultivated area of 2,281,000 hectares (most of which is black soil with rich nutrients) where 63 species of various minerals have been found - 25 of which are proven resource reserves - with 36 county-level nature reserves (an area of 572,000 hectares), 12 of which are provincial-level. Within the reserves, there are 80 kinds of national first and second class protected animals and eight kinds of national first and second class protected plants.
 
Resources

Harbin has plentiful and numerous valuable natural resources with a concentration of planting and cultivating locations. 
 
Harbin’s plant resources include: Korean pine, larch, Pinus ponderosa and Manchurian ash, the medicinal ingredients of ginseng, cork, earthworm, sophora and other valuable herbs like bracken, osmunda and monkey legs with wild vegetable dishes including pine nut and hazelnut oil, fruits like apricots, plums, prunus, pears, grapes and other berries are grown there. There are more than 130 species of wild flowers, including lilies and lilacs - which is Harbin’s official city flower.
 
Harbin’s wild animal resources include: Tiger, deer, white spoonbills and other nationally protected animals like white and black stork, white-tailed marten and 40 kinds of rare fish including carp, silver carp, dog fish and dace.
 
Harbin is also home to 20 kinds of minerals, including the major minerals in the Heilongjiang province such as coal, natural gas, copper, zinc, tungsten and molybdenum in Heilongjiang Province.
 
Local Specialty
  Among China’s capital cities, Harbin has the largest agricultural and rural areas. Under its jurisdiction, Harbin - including is districts and counties (as well as county-level cities) — have natural growing conditions, rivers, fertile land and fresh air which comes with the advantage of the production of natural green food, the standards of which have risen significantly.
 
The identified areas of green, pollution-free and organic food production (including the mountain products and aquatic areas) have exceeded 32.33 million mu. Brands including Wuchang Rice, Harbin Beer, Harbin Roulian Sausages, Harbin Hi-Tech Soybeans, Shuangcheng Millet, Longdsan Milk, Green Mountains Frozen Food, Yanshou Lychen Food and Zhenzhushan Food are some in a series of organic food producers have become reputable brands across China.
 
Harbin also has plenty of Hericium, fungi, mushrooms, Osmunda cinnamomea, ferns, hazelnuts, pine nuts and other mountain specialties which are easy to store after drying, salting and compressing and are sold overseas, touted as “Northern Delicacies in China.”