10 Days in Daxinganling

Flight into the 2008 airport or the overnight train from Harbin; the star monument above town and the fire-spared pine grove first.

1. daxinganling polaris square
2. daxinganling songyuan park

Facts of the May 6, 1987 fire — 28 days burning, more than 10,000 square kilometres — and the 1880s gold administration of Li Jinyong in the Yanzhigou valley.

1. daxinganling may6 fire memorial
2. daxinganling yanzhigou

The northernmost village near 53°29' north — post office, river boardwalks, and the summer-solstice near-17-hour daylight if you time June right.

1. daxinganling beiji village

The 53°33' north marker at Wusuli Shoal is the true northernmost point; the clifftop deck then frames the Amur's horseshoe loop.

1. daxinganling beihong village
2. daxinganling wusuli shoal
3. daxinganling amur first bend

Dawn mist over the Emuer at Tuqiang, then the forest road into Huzhong — the self-styled coldest town in China, below minus 45 in deep winter.

1. daxinganling nine bends wetland

1,528.7 metres over larch and birch, autumn colour at its best in late September; continue 150 km down to Jiagedaqi for the night.

1. daxinganling dabaishan

Beishan Park remembers the railway troops of the 1960s; the market stalls sell wild blueberries in late summer. A slow day in town.

1. daxinganling beishan park
2. daxinganling jiagedaqi markets

East through Tahe to Huma county on the Amur — the striped cliff of Huashan above the river is the day's stop; night in Huma town.

1. daxinganling huashan

An honest Heihe day — some 190 km downriver to the border city, where the riverside park looks across a narrow stretch of the Amur; evening light on the water.

1. heihe amur riverside park

One last riverside walk, a look at the highway bridge opened in 2022, then the flight or train from Heihe connects back east — an honest finish outside the prefecture.

1. heihe amur riverside park