Qiqihar is the second-largest city in the Heilongjiang province of China, in the west central part of the province. The built-up area made up of Longsha, Tiefeng and Jianhua districts had 959,787 inhabitants, while the total population of the prefecture-level city was shrinking to 4,067,489 as of the 2020 census. These are mainly Han Chinese, though the city is also home to thirty-four minorities including Manchus, Daur, and Mongols. Numerous wetlands are close to Qiqihar, including the Zhalong Nature Reserve, famous in China for being home to numerous red-crowned cranes.