7 Days in Daxinganling

In by flight to the 2008 airport or off the roughly 15-hour train from Harbin; the star monument over town and the fire-spared pine grove set the scene.

1. daxinganling polaris square
2. daxinganling songyuan park

The memorial documents the fire that started on May 6, 1987 and burned 28 days across more than 10,000 square kilometres; Yanzhigou tells of the 1880s gold rush run by Li Jinyong.

1. daxinganling may6 fire memorial
2. daxinganling yanzhigou

The northernmost village near 53°29' north — post office, boardwalks, Amur sunsets; overnight in the village to hear the river at night.

1. daxinganling beiji village

Beihong's fields, the 53°33' north marker by Wusuli Shoal, and the clifftop view of the Amur's horseshoe loop; the river freezes for about half the year.

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

Dawn over the Emuer's loops at Tuqiang, then the forest road south; Huzhong winters drop below minus 45 — pack for it if you come in January.

1. daxinganling nine bends wetland

The 1,528.7-metre high point of the northern range over larch and birch; autumn colour peaks in late September up here. Overnight in Huzhong.

1. daxinganling dabaishan

150 km to the prefecture seat — Beishan Park honours the railway troops who pushed the line north in the 1960s — then wild-berry stalls and the train or plane south.

1. daxinganling beishan park
2. daxinganling jiagedaqi markets