A tablet inscribed with "Music City- Harbin, China" and awarded by the United Nations arrived Friday in the capital city of northeast China' s Heilongjiang Province, according to the city's cultural official.

Harbin is also known as "Ice City" due to its annual ice and snow festival.

Sha Zukang, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, bestowed the title upon Harbin at Barcelona Tuesday, said Yang Xiaoping, chief of the Harbin Cultural, Press and Publication Bureau (HCPPB).

The book-sized tablet makes note of the musical achievement of the city as well as its citizens, said Yang, who accepted the tablet from Sha.

Being the capital of China's border province, Harbin had the earliest access to European classical music. It also is the home to China's oldest symphony orchestra, the Harbin Symphony Orchestra, which was founded in 1908, said Liu Yantao, deputy chief of HCPPB.

The first music school in China, Harbin No.1 Music School, was also founded here in 1928. Since its founding, nearly 100 famous musicians have studied at the school, said Liu.

The city also is renowned for its Central Street, a European-style street that combines music and architecture and where a 1,000-piano concert was held in 2006, which set a Guinness World Record, he added.

"The title is not only a compliment for our fondness of music, but also a motive for this city to go global," a netizen named Liu Li posted on the Internet.

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2010)