10 Days in Jiamusi

The Songhua riverwalk and city museum set the region up; stock up for the eastern runs — Fuyuan lies about 400 km out, five hours by road.

1. jiamusi riverside park
2. jiamusi city museum

Morning at the Hezhe village in Aoqi bay, then northwest to Tangyuan county, where the Daliangzihe park keeps old-growth Korean pine — a shaded two-hour loop.

1. jiamusi aoqi hezhe village
2. jiamusi daliangzihe forest

The island was split in 2008 with roughly 171 square km on the Chinese side — wetland boardwalks and a nine-story pagoda. Overnight in Fuyuan for the early sun.

1. jiamusi heixiazi island

Sun clears the horizon around 3 a.m. in midsummer at the east pole square; the easternmost post at Wusu and the sturgeon halls follow, then the road bends southwest.

1. jiamusi dongji square
2. jiamusi wusu town
3. jiamusi fuyuan fish hall

The state farms of the Sanjiang plain run in grids; the Qixing farm shows the reclamation story and September turns the paddies gold to the horizon.

1. jiamusi qixing farm

The two rivers meet and run on as one at the zero-kilometer marker of the Sanya highway; Jiejinkou keeps Hezhe river life — the Yimakan storytelling entered the UNESCO list in 2011.

1. jiamusi sanjiangkou
2. jiamusi jiejinkou hezhe town

About 140 km south, boardwalks cross the marsh — reeds, herons, open sky — then the afternoon run back into Jiamusi.

1. jiamusi fujin wetland

A slow riverside day — market breakfast, the bridge loop, an early night; the side days ahead are long ones.

1. jiamusi riverside park

An honestly labeled side day — Shuangyashan lies about 70 km southeast; its forest park and coal-town history make a half-day loop, back in Jiamusi by dinner.

1. shuangyashan

Another labeled side day — the fast rail to Harbin takes about 2 hours; the river boulevards and the Russian-era quarter close the trip, with onward trains from there if you prefer.

1. harbin