China's Cold Pole: Genhe and Xing'an Sacred Deer Park

Genhe is the second northernmost county-level city in China, located at 52 degrees north latitude, with a coldest temperature of minus 58 degrees and an average annual temperature of minus 5 degrees. As a small potato from the south, coming here in the height of summer in August, I still had to wear a thick coat.
Genhe's morning market has all kinds of vegetables and fruits, especially various types and colors of tomatoes, which I found very novel. Here, I tried biting into a pine cone for the first time and realized that squirrels must find it quite tiring to gnaw on pine cones.
The guesthouse I stayed at in Genhe: Muxin Yijia Guesthouse. The owner is very kind, and in the garden, they grow green onions, lettuce, and cucumbers that you can pick and eat yourself. The cucumbers 🥒 are very delicious 😋.
Leaving Genhe, I headed to Xing'an Sacred Deer Park. The signal here is poor, and tickets can be purchased with cash for 40 yuan. There are more sika deer here, but fewer reindeer 🫎 than expected, and it was not as fun as I had imagined.

Post by 牧星人 | Aug 12, 2025