Dominic Ziegler writes the Banyan column, which focuses on Asian-related issues, for The Economist . [1]
Ziegler served as the newspaper's China correspondent from 1994 to 2000, and as Tokyo Bureau Chief from 2005 to 2009.
He published his first book in 2015 titled Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China. [2]
The Amur, or Heilong Jiang, is the world's tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China. The Amur proper is 2,824 kilometres (1,755 mi) long, and has a drainage basin of 1,855,000 km2 (716,000 sq mi). Including its source river Argun, it is 4,444 km (2,761 mi) long. The largest fish species in the Amur is the kaluga, attaining a length as great as 5.6 metres (18 ft). The river basin is home to a variety of large predatory fish such as northern snakehead, Amur pike, taimen, Amur catfish, predatory carp and yellowcheek, as well as the northernmost populations of the Amur softshell turtle and Indian lotus.
Amur Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya rivers in the Russian Far East. The administrative center of the oblast, the city of Blagoveshchensk, is one of the oldest settlements in the far east of the country, founded in 1856. It is a traditional center of trade and gold mining. The territory is accessed by two railways: the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Baikal–Amur Mainline. As of the 2010 Census, the oblast's population was 830,103.
The Four Asian Tigers are the developed East Asian economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Between the early 1950s and 1990s, they underwent rapid industrialization and maintained exceptionally high growth rates of more than 7 percent a year.
Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is 黑. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point and easternmost point.
The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday which occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or June in the Gregorian calendar.
The Daur people are a Mongolic people in Northeast China. 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. There are also some near Tacheng in Xinjiang, where their ancestors were moved during the Qing dynasty.
The Nanai people 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 Jurchens of northernmost Manchuria.
Blagoveshchensk is a city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. It is located at the confluence of the Amur and the Zeya Rivers, opposite to the Chinese city of Heihe. Population: 241,437 (2021 Census); 214,390 (2010 Census); 219,221 (2002 Census); 205,553 (1989 Census).
Several species of heavy-bodied cyprinid fishes are collectively known in the United States as Asian carp. Cyprinids from the Indian subcontinent—for example, catla and mrigal —are not included in this classification and are known collectively as "Indian carp". Asian carp are considered invasive species in the United States. In June, 2022, the EPA funded initiative to rebrand Asian Carp as Copi was announced. The new name — Copi — is a part of the Federal and multi-state campaign to reintroduce the carps to the public as a healthy and responsible seafood option in order to decrease its numbers in U.S. waterways.
The Black Dragon Society, or the Amur River Society, was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist group in Japan.
Heihe is a prefecture-level city of northern Heilongjiang province, China, located on the Russian border, on the south bank of the Amur (Heilong) River, across the river from Blagoveshchensk. At the 2020 census, 1,286,401 people lived in the prefecture-level city of whom 223,832 lived in the built-up area made of Aihui District.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam is a Singaporean statesman and economist who has been serving as Senior Minister of Singapore since 2019, Coordinating Minister for Social Policies since 2015, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) since 2011, and Deputy Chairman of GIC since 2019. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister between 2011 and 2019, Minister for Education between 2003 and 2008, Minister for Finance between 2007 and 2015, and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies between 2015 to 2019. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Taman Jurong division of Jurong GRC since 2001.
Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island, or Heixiazi Island, is a sedimentary island at the confluence of the Ussuri and Amur rivers. It is divided between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Russia. It has an area of about 327 to 350 km2 and is bounded closely by Yinlong Island, and over ninety islets. Its position at the confluence of the Amur and the Ussuri and right next to the major Russian city of Khabarovsk, has given it great strategic importance.
The Sino-Russian border conflicts (1652–1689) were a series of intermittent skirmishes between the Qing dynasty of China, with assistance from the Joseon dynasty of Korea, and the Tsardom of Russia by the Cossacks in which the latter tried and failed to gain the land north of the Amur River with disputes over the Amur region. The hostilities culminated in the Qing siege of the Cossack fort of Albazin in 1686 and resulted in the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689 which gave the land to China.
Dadal is a sum (district) of Khentii Province in eastern Mongolia. Dadal airfield, unpaved at Lat: 49.0124N, 111.509E, elevation 1024 m.
Möngönmorit is a sum of Töv Province in Mongolia. The settlement is located just to the west of the Kherlen River and on the north side of a wide valley. Mongonmorit is the largest settlement close to the headwaters of the Onon River, the major tributary of the Amur River. This region and its people are well described in Chapter 1 of Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China.
Volkonsky is a Russian language locational surname, named after the Volkona river south of Moscow, and borne by a Russian noble family. Alternative spellings include Volkonskaya, Volkonski and Wolkonsky. The name Volkonsky may refer to:
The Black Dragon fire, also known as the 1987 Daxing'anling wildfire was the deadliest forest fire in the People's Republic of China. The fire broke out in Daxing'anling Prefecture, Heilongjiang on May 6, 1987. It also spread into the Soviet Union. The burning lasted almost a month, when it was finally stopped on June 2, 1987. The fire covered about 10,000 km2 of which 6,500 km2 (2,500 sq mi) was forest; it destroyed 7.3 million hectares of forest, including one-sixth of China's entire timber reserves. About 266 people were wounded and 211 died in the fire leaving 50,000 homeless. It was one of the largest wildfires ever to occur, and the largest to strike China in over 300 years.
Oros Niru was a military unit of the Qing dynasty of China. It consisted of Russian Cossacks that were captured during the border conflicts between the Russian Empire and Qing China. Formally, this niru was known as the 17th niru of the 4th jalan of the Manju Gusa ejen of Bordered Yellow Banner (鑲黃旗滿洲都統第四參領第十七佐領).
The Amur River: Between Russia and China is a 2021 book by Colin Thubron. It is an account of his travel from Mongolia to Russia to China, mostly along the Amur River.