On April 28 the Chinese Communists occupied Qiqihar, a railroad center in Manchuria.
1985, Jeffery Boswall, “Some Notes on Bird Markets, Pigeon Keeping and Other Bird/Man Relations in China”, in The Avicultural Magazine[2], volume 91, page 136:
In the grounds of my hotel at Qiqihar, Heilongjiang province, on 8th May 1983, I (J.B.) found a local bird-catcher with six traps slung from a tree.
The defeat of General Beng's Thirty-fifth Group Army north-east of Qiqihar (10-17 August), and the ensuing defeat of General Yang's counterattack with the First Armoured Group Army (20-24 August), had compelled Deng's Twenty-third Group Army to fall back on Baicheng to avoid encirclement. Qiqihar fell to the Russian 17th Guards Motorised Rifle Division (Eighth Guards Army) on 26 August, while Malenkov's Fifth Guards Tank Army swept through the relatively open country between Qiqihar and Harbin, intent on seizing the lower Nen river crossings and then smashing into the north-eastern flank of the Chinese Twenty-third Group Army.
2021 December 29, 齐齐哈尔市大数据中心, “Qiqihar City's 2nd Snow Crane Watching Festival kicked off”, in 齐齐哈尔市人民政府网[4], archived from the original on 17 August 2023[5]:
In order to further enhance the notability and influence of winter tourism in our city and keep gaining the fame and success of city cultural tourism brand of "The World's Largest Wetland, the Hometown of China's Crane", "The Winter Olympics are in Beijing–Zhangjiakou while the winter tourism shall go to Longjiang" , Qiqihar City's 2nd Snow Crane Watching Festival in 2021 sponsored by the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government and undertaken by the Municipal Bureau of Culture, Broadcasting and Tourism, Heilongjiang Zhalong National Nature Reserve Administration and Tiefeng District Government had its brand opening in Zhalong Eco-tourism Zone on the 28th.[…] A photography enthusiast, Ma Weizhi said, “There is a big difference between crane photography in winter and in summer. Zhalong in winter is more beautiful. This is the characteristic of our Qiqihar. Welcome to Qiqihar to watch cranes and experience the unique charm of Crane City."
Qiqihar, the last sizable city in China before reaching Mohe City, China’s northernmost town, briefly enjoyed an unlikely construction boom in 2016 and 2017.
