Surrounded by mountains of the Greater Khingan Mountain Range, and reminiscent of West Virginia (a mountainous state in the eastern United States of America), Jiagedaqi and Tahe each have a small town feel to them. By Chinese standards, of course, they're quite small - Jiagedaqi has around 150,000 people and Tahe has around 60,000 - but by American standards, these are cities.
Jiagedaqi and Tahe are part of the same administrative region of Heilongjiang Province, though Jiagedaqi is physically located in the eastern part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Jiageaqi is the seat of Daxing'anling Prefecture, which covers not just this part of Inner Mongolia, but the entire area of Heilongjiang Province northward to the Heilong River on the border with Russia. Tahe is the county seat of Tahe County, China's northernmost county, though the only area further north is the city of Mohe, China's northernmost city. The entire prefecture has a population of only around 520,000 people.
Tahe County has a subarctic climate and is in a discontinuous permafrost zone, which limits land use. Thus, fishing is the most important economic activity. Tahe, the county seat, is in the southern end of the county near the Huma River. The few days I was there, the temperature didn't get much below -30 Celsius and it only snowed one day, and quite lightly at that (snow in this region is measured in millimeters.
Tahe has its own local delicacy called jiangbing guozi. It's similar to the jiangbing guozi in other parts of China (Shanxi Province, Shandong Province, and Hebei Province's Tianjin), but has more substance. Tahe's jiangbing guozi contains processed meat, shredded potatoes, and a number of other ingredients wrapped in a very thin flour-and-egg pancake, resulting in a really fat wrap.
Jiagedaqi and Tahe aren't really places for tourists. So, there isn't much to see. Jiagedaqi has a lot of shops, both above and below ground. Tahe has a large waterfront park that, this time of year, has buildings of ice and snow, as well as an ice slide - similar (but on a much smaller scale) to Harbin's Ice and Snow World. Jiagedaqi and Tahe are likely better seen in the rather short summer, but are worth experiencing even in the winter. Should you choose to brave this area in the winter, be sure to dress appropriately as temperatures often approach or exceed -30 Celsius.
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