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Roughly speaking, Heilongjiang is high in the north and low in the south. There are, however, some scattered hills in its southernmost part. Its terrain can be divided into four zones: 1) The Lesser Hinggan and Yilehuli mountain areas in the north generally exceed 1,000 metres in elevation, with rounded hills and broad, flat-bottomed valleys. There are intermittent volcanic eruptions in some of the sections of the Lesser Hinggan Mountains. 2) The Songnen Plain in the central part belongs to the northern section of the Northeast plain. Formed of the black, fertile erosion and alluvial soil of the Songhua and Nenjiang rivers, it is the principal farming area in Heilongjiang. 3) The Sanjiang Plain at the northeastern tip has a low-lying terrain studded with swamps and marshes. Formed of the silt deposits of the Heilong, Songhua and Wusuli rivers, it has vast areas of wasteland, part of which has been turned into large, mechanized grain-producing farms. 4) The Southeast Mountain Area south of the Songhua River is part of the Eastern Mountain Area of northeast China, with the Zhangguangcailing and Laoyeling mountains as the main ranges.
Heilongjiang has five large river systems: the Heilong, Songhua, Wusuii, Nenjiang and Suifen rivers. There are 1,741 larger waterways with trunk channels totalling 4,907 kilometres. Large lakes include the Greater and Lesser Xingkai, Jingbo and Wudalianchi. The province has an annual flow of 93,600 million cubic metres and a hydroelectric power potential of 7.15 million kilowatts.
(china.org.cn)
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