History of Jiamusi
Early history
In 1720, Jiamusi was first named Giyamusi (甲母克寺噶珊，嘉木寺) during the Kangxi period by the Nanai people. The word Giyamusi originally means Inn in the Manchu language. Because of the harsh climate and short growing season, the region of today’s Jiamusi City was largely uncultivated .
Since the Qing government opened Manchuria for farming in order to prevent the conquest of the area by Russia, Jiamusi developed as a small trading post under the name Dongxing (東興鎮) since 1888. When Han Chinese and Manchusettlers began to move into the area, Jiamusi became the seat of a county administration, under the name Huachuan in 1910. However,the county seat was moved to Haoli (Hegang), which is about 30 miles to the north, after several destructive floods. After Xinhai Revolution, as the Han Chinese went on moving in, the population of Jiamusi rose very rapidly. Jiamusi continued to grow as a commercial center. As Jiamusi has become the largest harbor along the lower reaches of Songhua River, a road system was constructed in order to provide convenient transport linking Jiamusi to several other important strongholds in Northeastern China including Harbin and Nancha.
Japanese occupation period
As the Japanese invasion of Manchuria began, Jiamusi was established as an administrative centre of the puppet Manchukuo government. Going by the name Kiamusze, Jiamusi was also the capital of Sanjiang province. Jiamusi was regarded as an important military strongpoint to defend the Soviet Red Army’s possible invasion. In 1937, the City of Jiamusi was established. It also became a major military base. Many settlers came into the area, not only from China but also from Korea and Japan, including the Development Group of Manchuria and Mongolia. After the construction of and Tumen-Jiamusi and Suihua-Jiamusi Railway continuously completed in 1937 and 1940, Jiamusi has become an agricultural products distribution center in Heilongjiang.
People’s Republic
After 1949, as Jiamusi was still the transport and communications center of this region, the rapid development of Jiamusi continued. Industries including manufacturing agricultural equipment, mining machinery, fertilizers, plastics, and chemicals were developed. Since one of the biggest paper mills in China was built in 1957, Jiamusi has been a major producer of wood pulp and newsprint. Because of being conveniently connected by air and water to Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East, Jiamusi is also an important harbour for international trade in northeastern China.
