Shuangfeng Forestry CenterShuangfeng Forestry Center：Snow Village in the Northeast
Shuangfeng Forestry Center，also called Snow Village，is located in Hailin Prefecture，Heilongjiang，afour-hour drive west of the city of Hailin.In recentyears，its fame has grown by leaps and bounds as it haswon a number of international awards for its incomparablescenery.The novel Tracks in the Snowy Forest，whichtells the tale of Yang Zirong taking Tiger Mountain bystrategy and liberating Jiapigou，was set in this area.you raise your head，all you see is trees.This is the homeof red and white pines，and it contains a 297-hectare primevalred pine forest whose trees average 400 years oldand more than 30 meters high.The wind soughs throughthe forest like thunder，setting the verdant trees in motion.
The Hailang River，the largest tributary of the MudanRiver，has its source here，pouring forth in a constantflow.In the summer people come here for rafting，camping，exploring the forest，and gathering mountain flora.Inthe winter，this is the best place for people to go skiing orotherwise enjoy the snow and watch professional skiersperform.
Snow Village’s climate is affected by the nearby mountains，and every winter it starts to snow early and accumulatesto a depth of about two meters.The snow seasonlasts nearly seven months there，and it is widely agreedthat it gets the most snow of any place in China.Onereason Snow Village is so famous is because the quality of the snow is excellent.Cold air from Siberia mixes withwarm air from the Sea of Japan to form translucent，wetsnow that accumulates around the objects underneathlike an endless variety of mushrooms and gives a distinctivecast to houses built in the traditional local style.
Here，you can not only personally experience the charmsof snow but also deeply appreciate the feeling the localshave of living with the snow，relying on it for their livelihoodand being totally surrounded by a pure white landscape.
Snow Village，where the forestry center is located，isvery small，and if you go there in winter，you can seeonly one road covered in snow.All the village streets areregularly shoveled clean，with walls of snow rising oneither side.They’re very narrow and wind around pasteveryone’s home.The vehicles in the village include trucks for hauling lumber as well as horse-drawn sleighsand dogsleds.Most of the people in the village are employeesof the forestry center and their families.For themost part they no longer rely on lumbering for a living，but spend most of their time gardening and offeringhospitality to tourists.When tourists come to Snow Village，the locals warmly welcome them into their homes，where the tourists are served natural foods grown locally，sleep on heated brick beds that are a distinctive feature ofhomes in Northeast China，and get taken to see the sightsin dogsleds.Visitors are always mesmerized by the fresh，crisp air after a snowstorm and the simple and pure temperamentof the local people.
The homes in Snow Village are all old wooden houses，and when it snows，they look like short stout mushroomsthat just sprung up，standing there lazily.The houses allhave a small garden right out the door surrounded by apicket fence that follows a line like in a freehand charcoaldrawing.When the residents hang their silver coats onthe pickets to dry，they look like ice cream bars about tomelt and the bare pickets between the clothes by contrastlook like cakes.Strolling through Snow Village lookingat the snow mushrooms，cakes and ice cream bars，youget the feeling of being transported into a painting ofwinter landscape.Snow Village looks even more beautifulat night.The villagers all hang large red lanterns fromthe eaves of their houses，and the light from the lanternsmagically transforms the landscape so it seems likeclouds have descended from the sky and are floating allaround.
