Early history The region was originally settled by nomadic
Daur and
Tungus herdsmen. The city's original name was
Bukui (), the Chinese transcription of a Dagur word meaning "auspicious". The city's oldest mosque, the
Bukui Mosque, predates the foundation of the city by seven years. During the
Imperial Russian eastward advance to the Pacific, Qiqihar became a major garrison center in 1674. In 1691, a stronghold was constructed in Qiqihar because the Qing government campaigned against the
Mongols. Around 1700 it was a centre for
Russo-Chinese trade. A military depot with barracks and an arsenal was set up there, and many convicted criminals were exiled to the area. Heilongjiang Martial was domiciled in Qiqihar City in 1699. In 1903, the completion of the
Chinese Eastern Railway made Qiqihar a centre for communications between China and Russia. A network of lines radiating from Qiqihar was extended into the northwestern part of Heilongjiang Province including
Jiagedaqi and
Manzhouli in the late 1920s.
Second Sino-Japanese War In 1931, Japan used a
false flag attack, known as the
September 18 Incident, to justify moving its
Guandong Army to capture major cities in Northeast China that month, starting with
Shenyang,
Changchun, then
Jilin City. General
Ma Zhanshan was ordered to act as Governor and Military Commander-in-chief of Heilongjiang Province on 10 October. General Ma declined a Japanese ultimatum to surrender Qiqihar on 15 November. However, after their success in the
Jiangqiao campaign, the Japanese began their occupation of Qiqihar on 19 November.
Liaoning fell in December, and
Harbin in February; the puppet
Manchukuo government of the Japanese-occupied territory under General
Zhang Jinghui established Qiqihar as its administrative center and of Longjiang province. Qiqihar became a major military base for the Guandong Army and its economic importance also grew rapidly. During the occupation, the
Imperial Japanese Army established
Unit 516 in Qiqihar for research into
chemical warfare. A major
mustard gas tank left over from the
Second Sino-Japanese War buried underground was accidentally damaged in August 2003, causing 43 injuries and one death.
Modern era , 1955) After the defeat of Japan, the Democratic Regime Qiqihar Municipal Government was established, under the administration of
Nenjiang Province. Japanese forces in
Northeast China surrendered to the
Soviet Union while other Japanese forces in the rest of China surrendered to the Nationalist government. From March to May, Soviet troops progressively withdrew from their positions, giving the
People's Liberation Army more notice than the
National Revolutionary Army so that the former could occupy more positions in the context of the
Chinese Civil War. Qiqihar was controlled by the Communists on April 24, 1946, along with other important regional cities like Changchun, Jilin City, and Harbin. Qiqihar was established as the capital of Heilongjiang Province after the foundation of People's Republic of China in 1949. However, after Songjiang Province was merged into Heilongjiang Province, the provincial capital was transferred to
Harbin in 1954. During the first five-year plan of China from 1951 to 1956, many factories including Beiman Special Steel Co. and China First Heavy Industries were aid-constructed by the
Soviet Union in
Fularji District, making Qiqihar an important centre of equipment manufacturing industry in Northeast China. In 1984, Qiqihar was designated to be one of the 13 Larger Municipalities in China by the
General Office of the State Council. ==Geography==