Picturesque Songling: China’s snow village

The Songling Snow Village is located in Zhenzhu Village of Huashan Town in Linjiang City, 29 kilometers to the northwest of Linjiang’s urban area and 5 kilometers from Zhenzhunmen Scenic Area. It is home to 125 households covering 11 square kilometers with altitudes ranging from 900 to 1,100 meters. The Songling enjoys well-kept ecological environment because it lies in the gully between two mountains.

The village is also notable for its temple built by Xue Li of Tang Dynasty when he participated in an expedition eastward, and 100-year-old railways, tunnels and blockhouses established when the Japanese puppet state was ruling. The traces of the Muba cultuture of northeast China can still be found in the village. Muba refers to those engaged in lumbering in the Changbai Mountain in late Qing Dynasty.

Besides, villagers are simple and honest and their houses retain the original appearance from old times in the forest areas of northeast China. This place experiences relatively longer winter with a snow coverage of up to 95%. The snow is very pure in granule. Additionally, snow cover can be seen for six months in a year, especially from the middle October to middle April when the snow is piled as deep as about 0.5 to 2 meters.

The houses and village is covered by snow while the smoke is whirling from the chimney; trees are dark but hills are white; mountain lanes are winding up, eaves are almost hidden by snow, the snow slope over the terrace are blinking like sliver and fences are playing with their shadows under the sun. Such winter scenery is so picturesque that photographers and painters come all the way to record its beauty. According to statistics, during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday in 2013, the Snow Village welcomed over 200 tourists and photographers each day who came from not only Jilin, Liaoning and other relatively closer areas but also South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.