Suifenhe

Suifenhe (Chinese: 绥芬河) is a county-level city in southeastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, located where the former Chinese Eastern Railway crosses the border with Russia's town of Pogranichny, Primorsky Krai. In January 2014, Suifenhe became the only Chinese city in which trading with Russian Ruble is officially allowed.^[1][2] The city shares its name with the Suifen River, and is under the administration of Mudanjiang Prefecture-level City.

Suifenhe 绥芬河市
County-level & Sub-prefectural city
Clockwise from top: Suifenhe Railway Station, Da Guangming Temple, "National Gate" on the China–Russia border, downtown Suifenhe, Central Square
Suifenhe in Mudanjiang
Suifenhe Location in Heilongjiang
Coordinates (Suifenhe municipal government): 44°24′45″N 131°09′06″E
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Heilongjiang
Prefecture-level city	Mudanjiang
Township-level divisions	2 towns
Municipal seat	Suifenhe Town (绥芬河镇)
Area
• Total	460 km2 (180 sq mi)
Elevation	464 m (1,522 ft)
Population
• Total	100,000
• Density	220/km2 (560/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code	157300
Area code	0453
Climate	Dwb
Website	suifenhe.gov.cn

Suifenhe
Simplified Chinese	绥芬河
Traditional Chinese	綏芬河
Postal	Suifenho
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Suífēnhé Wade–Giles Sui2-fen1-ho2

Suifenhe and the surrounding border areas were scenes of vicious combat when the Soviet Union invaded Japanese-occupied Manchuria in August 1945.

Geography and climate

Suifenhe (labelled as Sui-fen-ho 綏芬河) (1955)

Suifenhe has a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb), with long, very cold, but dry winters, and warm, humid summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperatures range from −16.1 °C (3.0 °F) in January to 19.3 °C (66.7 °F) in July, and the annual mean is +3.17 °C (37.7 °F). Precipitation is light in the winter, and more than 2/3 of the year's precipitation occurs from June to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 44% in July to 64% in January and February, the city receives 2,413 hours of bright sunshine annually, with the latter half of winter being especially sunny.

Climate data for Suifenhe, elevation 568 m (1,864 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1951–2010)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	5.1 (41.2)	10.0 (50.0)	17.0 (62.6)	28.2 (82.8)	31.7 (89.1)	33.9 (93.0)	35.3 (95.5)	34.4 (93.9)	29.6 (85.3)	27.1 (80.8)	17.5 (63.5)	8.2 (46.8)	35.3 (95.5)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	−10.5 (13.1)	−6.0 (21.2)	1.3 (34.3)	11.2 (52.2)	18.0 (64.4)	22.1 (71.8)	24.7 (76.5)	24.2 (75.6)	19.5 (67.1)	11.6 (52.9)	0.0 (32.0)	−8.7 (16.3)	9.0 (48.1)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−15.7 (3.7)	−11.6 (11.1)	−4.1 (24.6)	5.2 (41.4)	11.7 (53.1)	16.4 (61.5)	19.7 (67.5)	19.1 (66.4)	13.3 (55.9)	5.5 (41.9)	−5.0 (23.0)	−13.5 (7.7)	3.4 (38.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−19.8 (−3.6)	−16.3 (2.7)	−9.1 (15.6)	−0.6 (30.9)	5.7 (42.3)	11.1 (52.0)	15.4 (59.7)	14.9 (58.8)	7.8 (46.0)	0.2 (32.4)	−9.2 (15.4)	−17.4 (0.7)	−1.4 (29.4)
Record low °C (°F)	−33.4 (−28.1)	−31.0 (−23.8)	−24.1 (−11.4)	−13.0 (8.6)	−4.3 (24.3)	0.4 (32.7)	6.9 (44.4)	3.6 (38.5)	−6.7 (19.9)	−15.4 (4.3)	−27.6 (−17.7)	−32.3 (−26.1)	−33.4 (−28.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	8.4 (0.33)	7.0 (0.28)	17.1 (0.67)	31.4 (1.24)	76.7 (3.02)	93.6 (3.69)	124.7 (4.91)	128.6 (5.06)	68.7 (2.70)	39.8 (1.57)	22.9 (0.90)	10.5 (0.41)	629.4 (24.78)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	6.0	5.3	8.4	9.4	14.3	15.0	15.5	15.0	10.8	8.3	7.6	7.2	122.8
Average snowy days	9.0	8.7	12.1	7.3	0.7	0	0	0	0.1	3.3	9.7	10.8	61.7
Average relative humidity (%)	65	59	57	54	64	78	84	84	75	61	63	66	68
Mean monthly sunshine hours	175.4	188.3	216.7	200.3	215.8	209.9	192.8	193.4	217.4	203.9	161.2	155.1	2,330.2
Percent possible sunshine	61	64	58	49	47	45	41	45	59	61	57	57	54
Source: China Meteorological Administration[3][4][5]

Administrative divisions

Suifenhe administers two towns:^[6][7]

• Suifenhe Town (绥芬河镇)
• Funing Town (阜宁镇)

Transport

Road

Suifenhe is also a terminus of both G10 Suifenhe–Manzhouli Expressway and China National Highway 301, which run northwest to Manzhouli (Inner Mongolia), which is another China–Russia port-of-entry.

Road and rail border crossing

A former office of the Chinese Eastern Railway, now a museum

Suifenhe is one of the points where China's and Russia's railway systems connect through a rail border crossing on the Sino-Russian border. The rail line was originally constructed as the Chinese Eastern Railway in the early 20th century, but now serves as the terminus of the Harbin-Suifenhe Railway. The train station on the opposite side of the border is Grodekovo, in the town of Pogranichny, Primorsky Krai.

As of December 2009, Russian train schedule sites show the existence of the passenger train no. 401, making the 26-km trip between Suifenhe and Grodekovo twice a week; however, the twice-a-week trains no. 006, Khabarovsk–Harbin, and no. 967, Vladivostok–Harbin only have a scheduled stop in Grodekovo and not in Suifenhe.^[8]

The cross-border rail line is important for freight transportation. As of 2015, the main cargo entering China from Russia over this railway crossing is iron ore; at 1.3 million tons over the first 5 months of the year, it constitutes about 1/3 of the total import cargo volume.^[9]

The G10 Suifenhe–Manzhouli Expressway and China National Highway 301, which terminates at Suifenhe is connected via a road border crossing to Russia's A184 Highway. The nearest city to the crossing on the Russian side is Pogranichny.

References

1. 中国金融信息网. "绥芬河卢布现钞使用试点进入正式实施阶段". 中国金融信息网. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
2. "绥芬河试点使用卢布现钞-新华网". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
3. 中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
4. 中国气象数据网 (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
5. 中国地面国际交换站气候标准值月值数据集（1971－2000年）. China Meteorological Administration. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21.
6. 2011年统计用区划代码和城乡划分代码：绥芬河市 (in Chinese). National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
7. "国家统计局" (in Chinese). National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
8. Russian train schedules site. One can search e.g. by entering "Grodekovo" as a station name, obtaining results like this: http://www.poezda.net/en/station_timetable?st_code=2034464&forDate=08-12-2009 The through trains from Khabarovsk and Vladivostok may in reality be just single cars, or groups of cars, attached to a train terminating in Grodekovo, and then passed on to the Chinese railways.
9. 绥芬河铁路口岸2015年1至5月进口铁矿创历史同期新高] [Record amount of iron ore imported through the Suifenhe railway point of entry over the first 5 months of 2015]. houchepiao.com news.