Nanai peopleThe Nanai people (нанайцы) are a Tungusic people of East Asia who have traditionally lived along Heilongjiang (Amur), Songhuajiang (Sunggari) and Wusuli River on the Middle Amur Basin. The ancestors of the Nanai were the Wild Jurchens of northernmost Manchuria (outside China- Russian Manchuria). The Nanai language belongs to the Manchu-Tungusic family. According to the 2010 census there were 12,003 Nanai in Russia. Common names for these people include Nanai (Nanai: нанай, нани, nanai, natives, locals, people of the land/earth) and Hezhen (хэдзэни, χədʑən; ).
Tungusic peoplesTungusic peoples are an ethno-linguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages (or Manchu–Tungus languages). They are native to Siberia and Northeast Asia. The Tungusic phylum is divided into two main branches, northern (Evenic or Tungus) and southern (Jurchen–Nanai). An intermediate group (Oroch–Udege) is sometimes recognized. The name Tungusic is artificial, and properly refers just to the postulated linguistic phylum (Tungusic languages). It is derived from Russian Tungus (Тунгус), a Russian exonym for the Evenks (Ewenki).
JilinJilin dʒiːˈlɪn (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Primorsky Krai) to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west. Along with the rest of Northeast China, Jilin underwent an early period of industrialization. However, Jilin's economy, characterized by heavy industry, has been facing economic difficulties with privatization.
HeilongjiangHeilongjiang (ˌheɪlɒŋˈdʒæŋ; formerly romanized as Heilungkiang) is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the junction of the Amur and Ussuri rivers). The province is bordered by Jilin to the south and Inner Mongolia to the west.
Liao dynastyThe Liao dynasty (ljaʊ; Khitan: Mos Jælud; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü clan of the Khitan people. Founded around the time of the collapse of the Tang dynasty, at its greatest extent it ruled over Northeast China, the Mongolian Plateau, the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, southern portions of the Russian Far East, and the northern tip of the North China Plain.
Daur peopleThe Daur people, Dagur, Daghur or Dahur (Russian: Дауры, Daury; Dagur:Daure; Khalkha Mongolian: Дагуур, Daguur; ) are a Mongolic people in Northeast China and Siberia (Russia). The Daur form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised in the People's Republic of China. They numbered 131,992 according to the latest census (2010) and most of them live in Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner in Hulun Buir, Inner Mongolia and Meilisi Daur District in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang of China.
Liao RiverThe Liao River () is the principal river in southern Northeast China, and one of the seven main river systems in China. Its name derived from the Liao region, a historical name for southern Manchuria, from which the Liaoning province, Liaodong Peninsula and Liao dynasty also all have derived their names. The river is also popularly known as the "mother river" in Northeast China. Coursing long, the Liao River system drains a catchment basin of over , but its mean discharge is quite small at only about , about one-twentieth that of the Pearl River.
Songhua RiverThe Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, Сунгари Sungari) is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur. It flows about from the Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea border through China's northeastern Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces. The river drains of land, and has an annual discharge of to . The extreme flatness of the Northeast China Plain has caused the river to meander over time, filling the wide plain with oxbow lakes, as remnants of the previous paths of the river.