The Songhua River or Songga-liwula in Manchurian (means Heavenly Lake), is the largest tributary of the Heilong River in Heilongjiang province, Northeast China, flowing about 1,434 kilometers from Changbai Mountains through Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces. The source of the river is a crater lake called Heavenly Lake with an elevation of 2,189 meters at the top of the Changbai Mountain, which borders North Korea in Jilin Province, China. As an important artery in Northeast China, The Songhua River itself has two main tributaries. One is the Second Songhua River from Mount Tianchi. The other is Nenjiang from Xiaoxingan’ling. These two tributaries join the Amur at Tongjiang, Heilongjiang.

The Songhua River in winter is as bustling as a summer bathing beach. It's frozen hard with ice almost one meter thick, making it a great playground for all kinds of ice sports. One can go swimming, skating and ice sailing, or ride in ice junks or horse-drawn sleighs on the Songhua River in winter.