Hulin 虎林市

Setting and landscape

Hulin covers 9,330 square kilometres. The Ussuri and the Songacha River (松阿察河) form its eastern and southeastern border with Russia; Raohe County (饶河县) lies to the northeast, Mishan (密山市) to the west and Baoqing County (宝清县) to the northwest. Hulin's 28 rivers include the Muling (穆棱河), Qihulin (七虎林河) and Abuqin (阿布沁河).

The Zhenbaodao Wetland National Nature Reserve (珍宝岛国家级湿地自然保护区), in the east of Hulin, covers 44,500 hectares along the Ussuri. The Jixi city government describes it as the most original and typical marsh ecosystem at its latitude and records 169 bird species there.

History

Hulin's government calls the area ancient Sushen (肃慎) land and an ancestral home of the Hezhen (赫哲) people, known for birch-bark crafts and for the fish-skin clothing that earned them the name 'fish-skin tribe'. A Qing administration was set up in 1894, when the land was also opened to settlers; a second opening in 1919 brought more migrants, and the mix of Shandong and Liaoning speech produced a local dialect island. Hulin came under Jixi in August 1993 and became a city in October 1996.

From 1958 more than 40,000 demobilised soldiers came to Hulin to open up the Great Northern Wilderness (北大荒), and in 1969 over 3,000 educated youths followed.

What to see

The Hutou Scenic Area (虎头旅游景区), in Hutou town (虎头镇) facing Russia across the Ussuri, is a national 5A scenic area. The Japanese army began the Hutou Fortress in 1934, using more than 100,000 labourers over six years and digging over 70 metres deep. Its garrison held out until 26 August 1945, eleven days after Japan's surrender announcement, so the Jixi city government calls Hutou the place where the Second World War ended. The site now holds the Hutou Fortress Museum (侵华日军虎头军事要塞博物馆). The scenic area also includes the Guandi Temple (关帝庙), built in the Yongzheng reign and listed as a provincial protected site in 1987, and a copper tiger 25 metres long on the riverbank.

Zhenbao Island (珍宝岛), 0.74 square kilometres in the Ussuri, was the scene of the clashes of 2–17 March 1969; a shell-scarred 'hero tree' still grows there. The city government says Shendingfeng (神顶峰), the main peak of the Wanda Mountains, sees China's earliest summer sunrise, and describes Crescent Lake (月牙湖) as a moon-shaped lake with wild lotus.

Food and local products

The Ussuri yields chum salmon and prized northern cold-water fish grouped as 'three hua, five luo, eighteen zi' (三花五罗十八子). The Jixi city government singles out spring 'river-opening fish' (开江鱼), caught after the ice breaks, and notes cooking that keeps Hezhen seasonings such as bagao (芭蒿).

Highlights

• Hutou Fortress Museum 侵华日军虎头军事要塞博物馆: Built on the Japanese fortress whose garrison held out until 26 August 1945.
• Hutou Guandi Temple 关帝庙: Yongzheng-era temple, a provincial protected site since 1987; the only building left intact in the 1945 fighting.
• Zhenbao Island 珍宝岛: Island of 0.74 square kilometres, scene of the March 1969 clashes.
• Zhenbaodao Wetland National Nature Reserve 珍宝岛国家级湿地自然保护区: 44,500 hectares of marsh on the Ussuri with 169 bird species recorded.
• Shendingfeng 神顶峰: Main peak of the Wanda Mountains, known locally for early summer sunrises.