Hailar

Hailar grew from the Qing frontier settlement called Hulun Buir City. In 1734 the government built it on the left bank of the Yimin River, after reconsidering an earlier proposed site near the Jilamatai river mouth. Officials favoured the new location for its water, pasture, timber and cultivable land. The town's name linked it to the Hulun and Buir lakes of the surrounding region.

Its establishment formed part of a broader reorganisation of frontier defence. In 1732 Ewenki, Oroqen and Barga households were transferred from Butha and organised into banner units, while further Barga groups arrived from Khalkha territory in 1734. Families and herds accompanied the military organisation of the grasslands. The early town's enclosure incorporated merchants' houses, with an earthen barrier closing a gap. Hailar's beginnings therefore combined a garrison headquarters with pastoral households and trade, rather than a settlement sustained solely by a fortress wall.