Daqing
Daqing
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Daqing

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Daqing

Daqing (simplified Chinese: 大庆; traditional Chinese: 大慶; pinyin: Dàqìng) is a prefecture-level city in the west of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. The name literally means "Great Celebration" and refers to the tenth anniversary of the PRC. Daqing is known as the "Oil Capital of China" and has experienced a phenomenal boom since oil was discovered at the Daqing Oil Field in 1959.

Its population was 2,781,562 as of the 2020 census, of whom 1,574,389 lived in the built-up (or metro) area in four out of the total of five urban districts: Sartu, Longfeng, Ranghulu and Honggang.

The region now known as Daqing Prefecture was a reasonably insignificant place until the Qing dynasty, known only as an unsettled hunting ground of Dörbet Oirat tribes due to its wetland and prairies. The region began to grow slightly after the Russian Empire constructed the Chinese Eastern Railway (KVZhD) through the area in 1898. The railway has a station at Sartu in today's Sartu District. It was not until 1959 that oil was discovered in the region as part of the large scale oil exploration put into motion across the Northeast China Plain.

The Daqing oilfield was discovered in the late 1950s, and drilling began in 1958. A town with the same name was founded in 1959 to house workers extracting oil and gas from the oilfield and to host industries which could take advantage of the energy and petrochemicals, shortly before the 10th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. The oilfield and the town had the same administrative body until 1983.

The successful construction of the Daqing oil field despite harsh weather conditions and supply limitations became a model held up by the Party as an example during subsequent industrialization campaigns. The project also delivered critical economic benefits because without the production of the Daqing oil field, crude oil would have been severely limited after the Soviet Union cut off supplies as a result of the Sino-Soviet split.

Original plans for Daqing included the development of a "new socialist mining district" (rather than a city) with families in which the husband would work in industry and the wife would work in agriculture. Ultimately, the city expanded incrementally with clusters forming around developing refineries and oil wells. All settlements used a single-story mud technique called scientific gandalei, with multistory brick buildings being introduced in the late 1960s.

The name Daqing literally means "Great Celebration". On 26 May 1960, Anda City was established at former Anda town (today's Anda City in Suihua prefecture), administering Daqing oilfield area. Five months later, the administrative organs of the oilfield relocated in Sartu. On 23 June 1964, the city was established Anda special administrative region, with Anda county administering its surrounding area.

The first two years of the Cultural Revolution resulted in major disruptions to China's petroleum industry and an oil shortage by 1967. In March of that year, the People's Liberation Army was called to Daqing to maintain order so that oil production could proceed. This made Daqing one of the first places brought under military control during the Cultural Revolution. In May 1968, the Daqing Revolutionary Committee was established. Iron Man Wang Jinxi became its vice director. The oil field continued to be a major driver of economic growth during the Cultural Revolution period.

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