Harbin Transportation -- Getting There
Located 33 kilometers (20.5 miles) northwest of downtown area, Harbin Taiping International Airport (HRB) is currently the second largest airport in northeastern China. Formerly known as Yanjiagang Airport , it was first built in 1979, afterwhich it underwent considerable expansion between 1994 and 1997. It achieved an international airport status in 1984 and serves as one of the most important transportation hubs for northeastern China. The airport is currently well equipped to handle 6 million passengers annually and has more than 50 air routes, covering over 40 domestic and overseas cities. These include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changsha, Seoul, Osaka, Vladivostok and Los Angeles.
The airport has two terminals, domestic and international. Auxiliary facilities are offered in the airport, including duty-free shops, shops selling local products, restaurants, airport lounges, lost&found and information desk. The automatic check-in counter can be found at the information desk of China Southern Airlines, 2F, Terminal Building, where travellers may check in and print boarding passes.
Toilets designed for the disabled can be found throughtout the terminal building. An infant room is located near No. 8 boarding gate, providing children’s entertainment and nursing room with full-time keeper.
Tips: Airport transfers into the city take about an hour by shuttle bus, and about half an hour by taxi, the latter of which will cost about RMB100. It is advisable for outbound travellers to arrive at least 2 hours in advance of flight departure.
Harbin Train Schedule
The city has four railway stations, City Railway Station, the West Railway Station, the East Railway Station and the North Railway Station.
City Railway Station is located in Nangang District, the center of the city. It was originally built in 1899 and also named as Qinjiagang Railway Station or Songhuajiang Railway Station. Being one of the largest train stations in the country, it has trains running to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changsha, Xi'an, Chengdu, Wuhan, Shenyang, and Hangzhou every day.
Situated in Harbin Street, the West Railway Station is the terminus of Beijing-Harbin and Harbin-Dalian High Speed Railways. It mainly operates high speed or bullet trains to the northeast area of China, including those to/from Dalian, Changchun, Jilin, Shenyang, and Beijing.
Major Rail Lines from Harbin to:
This statioin is also named San Ke Shu Zhan (Three Trees Station), located in Daowai District. It is currently closed for renovation. After renovation in early November, 2016, trains from there will run to Chifeng, Dandong, Binjiang, Jiamusi, and Heihe.
Located at the west side of Limin Avenue in Songbei District, North Railway Station is an important stop along Harbin – Qiqihar High Speed Railway. It operates trains to/from Qiqihar, Daqing, Shenyang, Tieling, Qinkang, Hunchun, Yanji, and Tumen, etc.
In Shangzhi City, there is Yabuli Railway Station operating trains from/to Harbin, Dalian, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Mudanjiang, Shijiazhuang, Jixi, etc.
The city is the terminus station of Harbin – Dalian high speed railway, which strides across the three provinces (Heilongjiang, Liaoning, and Jilin) in northeast China. The railway line goes to Dalian, and passes through Changchun and Shenyang.
The long-distance buses are mainly offered by Nangang Bus Station with most of the bus routes covering the rest of Heilongjiang Province. Destinations available via the inter-provincial long-distance bus services are Shenyang within Liaoning Province and Changchun within Jilin Province. A new route was opened this year to Vladivostok in Russia, with the daily journey by luxury bus taking twelve hours.
Occupying an advantageous geographical position, the City Port is listed as one of the eight important inland harbors of China. However, ships only can reach some parts of northeast China from April through to early November.