5 Days in Daxinganling

Reach Mohe by the 2008 airport or the overnight train, then the star monument on the west hill and the pine grove that the May 1987 fire famously spared.

1. daxinganling polaris square
2. daxinganling songyuan park

The northernmost village near 53°29' north — post office, riverbank boardwalks, and Amur sunsets across the water; around the June 21-22 solstice daylight runs to about 17 hours. Stay overnight in the village for the quiet.

1. daxinganling beiji village

The rustic fields of Beihong, the marker at 53°33' north by Wusuli Shoal — the true northernmost point — and the horseshoe loop of the Amur from the clifftop deck, where the river runs more than 300 metres wide.

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

Dawn mist over the Emuer's loops at Tuqiang, then the long forest drive south into Huzhong, the town that bills itself as the coldest in China.

1. daxinganling nine bends wetland

The 1,528.7-metre summit of the northern range above larch and birch slopes, then 150 km on to Jiagedaqi, the prefecture seat, for the train or flight out.

1. daxinganling dabaishan