Scenic area · Historic city · Border city · Heilongjiang
Mudanjiang
牡丹江
Jingpo Lake, the Bohai capital and the snow country of the south-east
Mudanjiang is a prefecture-level city in south-eastern Heilongjiang on the Mudan River, bordering Russia. Its territory includes Jingpo Lake, a lake dammed by lava, the site of the Bohai kingdom's Upper Capital at Ning'an, the border port of Suifenhe and the forest village known as Snow Town.
Key facts
Overview
Mudanjiang grew as a railway town on the Chinese Eastern Railway line to Vladivostok, where the railway crossed the Mudan River. The river's name comes from a Manchu word for “winding”, not from the peony (牡丹), which the Chinese characters suggest.
The surrounding mountains are forested and snowy, and the region has some of the province's best-known landscapes: Jingpo Lake with the Diaoshuilou waterfall, the crater forests above it, and the snow-covered roofs of Snow Town in winter. It also holds one of the most important archaeological sites of the Northeast, the capital of the Bohai kingdom.
Names and nicknames
雪城
“Snow City”
From the heavy snowfall of the surrounding mountains.
History
Bohai made Longquan Prefecture, near today's Ning'an, its Upper Capital from 755 to 926, with an interval in the 780s. Under the Qing, Ninguta (Ning'an) was a garrison town and a place of exile for disgraced officials and scholars. The modern city grew with the railway after 1903 and became a Japanese military base in the 1930s. In 1938 eight women soldiers of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army drowned in the Wusihun River rather than surrender, an episode commemorated in the region.
755–926
Upper Capital of Bohai
Longquan Prefecture, laid out on the model of Chang'an, was the largest city of the Northeast at the time.
17th–19th century
Ninguta, place of exile
The Qing garrison at Ning'an received exiled officials and scholars, who left accounts of the frontier.
1903
Chinese Eastern Railway
The line to Vladivostok crossed the Mudan River, and a railway town grew at the crossing.
1938
The Eight Women
Eight women soldiers of the anti-Japanese resistance drowned in the Wusihun River in Linkou county.
Landmarks
Nature
Jingpo Lake
镜泊湖
Long mountain lake formed when lava dammed the Mudan River; the Diaoshuilou waterfall pours over the lava barrier.
Historic site
Upper Capital of Bohai
渤海国上京龙泉府遗址
Earthen walls, palace foundations and a stone lantern of the Bohai capital near Ning'an.
Nature
Snow Town
雪乡
Forest-farm village in the mountains where snow piles into rounded drifts on roofs and fences in winter.
Nature
Crater forest
火山口地下森林
Forest growing inside volcanic craters north-west of Jingpo Lake.
Neighbourhoods
Suifenhe
绥芬河
Border town with Russian signs, shops and a railway crossing to Russia's Primorye.
Ning'an
宁安
The old garrison town of Ninguta, near the Bohai site.
Food
Jingpo Lake fish
镜泊湖鱼
Freshwater fish from the lake, stewed or cooked in an iron pot.
Korean cold noodles
朝鲜族冷面
The area has a sizeable Korean community.
Culture
Mudanjiang's culture mixes the Northeastern Han, Korean and Manchu traditions with a strong local memory of the anti-Japanese resistance, reflected in the story of Weihu Mountain, the setting of the model opera Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy.
Getting around
- Mudanjiang station is the eastern terminus of the high-speed line from Harbin; lines continue to Suifenhe and Jiamusi.
- Hailang International Airport has domestic flights and routes to Russia.
Day trips
Weihu Mountain
威虎山
Forest area in Hailin associated with the story of Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Mudanjiang Municipal People's Government — Mudanjiang Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Mudanjiang — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
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