What are the routes for self-driving tours in frontier areas? What should you pay attention to during self-driving tours in frontier areas?

This trip is quite exciting. After all, I have been preparing for this self-driving trip to Northern Xinjiang for a long time. From the psychological point of view to the equipment, I try to be more thorough. After all, this is a long trip. The journey will be quite long. It’s difficult to predict if something unexpected happens on the road, and the roads in the middle will not be very good, so I’m still a little nervous about this trip. Come and travel to Northern Xinjiang with me!

The first bay of Longjiang in the ice

The second section of the eastward journey of the Longjiang First Bay self-driving team’s border trip is determined to be: from Mohe Arctic Village along the Heilongjiang River, along the border road S209 , S311, S312, and S313 arrived at Dongji Square in Wusu Town, Fuyuan County, the easternmost part of the motherland via the border town of Heihe. Here we will first introduce some popular science about Heilongjiang, which will be with us all the way.

After the eastward journey route was determined, the first stop was the unique landscape formed by the special terrain of Heilongjiang in Mohe - the First Bay of Longjiang. ?

The first bay of Longjiang on the map

On the morning of April 19, the quiet Arctic Village was bathed in the warm sunshine, and the sky was clear and cloudless. After Bingsheng and Lanlan bought meat and vegetables at the village market, we set off to Longjiang First Bay at 9 o'clock. ?

Turn towards Heihe from Mobei Highway

We were stopped at a fire prevention checkpoint before entering S209 Provincial Highway. It turns out that the forest fire prevention pass we obtained in Mangui has expired and needs to be reapplied. Seeing that we looked troubled, the little administrator girl with bright eyes wearing a mask said enthusiastically and cheerfully, "It's okay! I'll give you a three-day ticket." In less than 2 minutes, a Mohe County forest protection and fire prevention mountain pass was handed to me without charge, which made us smile and say thank you. ?

Mohe County Forest Protection and Fire Prevention Pass

Inside page of the pass

After saying goodbye to the little girl happily, he said, such a passionate, dedicated, quick and sunny girl, If I were her leader, I would definitely promote her and reuse her. I said luckily you weren't, otherwise I would have had to come to Mohe to jump in line. But she can write this in her travel notes and maybe her boss will see it, even if the probability is very small. ?

The enthusiastic and sunny girl at the checkpoint

The cement road of S209 is not wide but very smooth. There is unmelted snow on the road from time to time. We carefully continue to drive along the ruts in the Daxinganling forest. district. ?

The unmelted snow on S209 Provincial Highway

At the intersection leading to Longjiang First Bay, a notice stated that due to road reconstruction, Longjiang First Bay was temporarily diverted to the front. Enter at 9km. ?

Change 9 kilometers ahead at the First Bay intersection

9 kilometers is not far away. However, we found that there are other words on the scenic spot sign of Longjiang First Bay: China's northernmost point. I asked Jiancheng, do you know this northernmost point? Of course, Jiancheng didn’t know if it had been included in the plan earlier. ?

Discover China’s northernmost point on the scenic spot sign

The temporary road entering the first bay of Longjiang was widened by a forest path, and the 12-kilometer narrow sandy road was quite close. half an hour. ?

The temporary sand road to the First Bay

Finally arrived at the First Bay Ticket Office

Introduction to the Ticket Office Longjiang First Bay

When I arrived at the scenic spot, I learned that the 50 yuan ticket included the northernmost point in China, which is 18 kilometers apart. ?

The ticket office at the first bay and the northernmost point

Heating facilities in the ticket office

The road in the scenic area is being widened, and we are paving it with gravel. I walked slowly and patiently along the stony road for another half an hour before arriving at the Longjiang First Bay parking lot. ?

The gravel road leading to the first bay

Only when we arrived at the parking lot did we know that the winding mountain road had long been closed, and we had to spend an hour and a half walking along the 628-meter wooden plank road with more than 900 steps. Only when you reach the observation deck on the top of the mountain can you see the panoramic view of the first bay.

The First Bay of Longjiang

628-meter hiking wooden plank road

People often use "eyes in heaven, body in hell" to describe the hard work of traveling. Wrong, if you want to see the beautiful scenery, you have to climb the 628-meter steps. No one can do it for anyone. ?

Climbing more than 900 steps

It is expected that you will return halfway.

Others still withstood the "hell" test and reached the top of the mountain. ?

Overlooking the First Bay of Longjiang and Golden Ring Island

In the distance is Russia's Siberia

When you arrive at the observation deck, the view suddenly opens up and the scenery is shocking. The frozen white Heilongjiang makes a big circle around Russia's Golden Ring Island here, like a huge white jade necklace. ?

The island is covered with white birch trees and Scotch pine trees. The yellow river sand and pebbles on the shore are like a golden edge inlaid with a golden ring, hence the name. Looking far into the distance, the vast Siberia in the Russian Far East stretches as far as the eye can see. In front of the beautiful, magical, eternal and majestic nature, I once again felt the shortness and insignificance of life. We braved the biting cold wind to watch and take photos, only to realize that we could not capture the entire river bend even with the shortest focal length of the camera. The helpless regret made me determined to equip myself with a good wide-angle lens no matter how expensive it was. Jiancheng also said that he must bring his expensive telephoto lens with him next time he goes out. From now on, the two of us with long guns and short cannons will be able to capture all the beautiful scenery.

?

There is a hut not far from the top of the mountain that looks like a fire protection station. ?

The fire protection ranger station on the top of the first bay

We went to the fire protection ranger station to inquire and found out that to get to the Great Neck Viewpoint, we have to walk nearly 2 kilometers along the icy, snowy and muddy path on the top of the mountain. , and then climb up to a 40-meter-high iron tower to see the panoramic view of Great Neck. This is of course a very exciting temptation, but considering that this trip will take at least more than 2 hours, and then we have to go to the northernmost point in China, it will be too late and it will be difficult to find a place to stay at night. After weighing it, I finally gave up and returned down the mountain along the plank road with some regrets. ?

When Bingsheng met her the next morning, he praised the delicious food very much. Unexpectedly, this enthusiastic and sincere landlady couldn't bear the praise, and she made sure to give us some potatoes before she left. , even if I give her money, I won’t accept it. I commended you and said that you should be encouraged for your good public relations role.

A local at the foot of the mountain reminded us that the places where we can stay are quite far east. So we seized the time and continued to rush to China’s northernmost point, which is 18 kilometers away.

China's northernmost point

At a fork in the road, we followed the road signs and hurried along a new road that was being widened and not yet paved, regardless of the bumps, until we were stopped in a covered road. In front of the big ice blocks that live all over the road. ?

The ice cover covering the road

It is the water flowing down from the hillside on the roadside that has formed a thick layer of ice on the road, covering the entire road. Jiancheng and I got out of the car and took a look. There were two deep ruts on the sloping ice. The ice in the middle of the ruts was so high that it might hit the chassis of the car. On the right side of the road was soil that had been softened by ice water. After visual inspection, it was decided that the height of my car's chassis should be passed first, and then the decision would be made after it was built and observed. I held the accelerator steady and drove along the rut at a constant speed, or in other words, I used the inertia to slide past the rut, because it felt like the car was sliding in an instant. Then Jiancheng came over. Of course, I watched his wheels get stuck in the ruts, and the chassis slid over by inertia against the ice. This once again tested our driving skills and courage without any danger. However, we soon felt strange. It seemed that we had already passed the 18 kilometers but there were no road signs, not a single car or a person in sight. Of course, I should add here that in the Daxinganling forest area of ??Heilongjiang, there is basically no mobile phone signal except where towns and forest farms are located. Even if there is 2G, it can only make calls but cannot provide data services. Even this scenic spot is no exception. This situation makes it impossible for us to use our mobile phones to search for routes and query information. We can’t see the road here on Baidu and Amap offline maps. Confused, we had no choice but to keep walking. Finally we saw a hut not far ahead. When we got closer and saw someone inside, we felt like we had met a savior. It turned out that we had already walked over to another toll office in the scenic spot, and the Ussuri Shoal, the northernmost point in China, is right next to the "Karun Town". ?

The northernmost point of China is in the small town of Karen

We remembered that we had seen a "Karun Town" sign at a fork in the road on the way, so we immediately turned around and turned around. return. ?

Skied across the ice cap again when returning

After skiing across the ice cap skillfully again, Lan Lan informed us that lunch was ready, and we were half way hungry. Had lunch. ?

Have lunch on the way at around 2pm

Lan Lan prepared delicious vegetable rice

Finally arrived at Ussuri Karen Shoal. ?

Finally arrived at the Ussuri Karen Shoal

The shoal is like a scene from the Ice Age

At this time, the entire river is still covered with thick ice , the vast expanse of white looks even more crystal clear and flawless under the slanting light of the afternoon sun. It feels like the scene in the Hollywood cartoon "Ice Age" is truly unfolding before our eyes. ?

On the other side of the river, Russia has a lush Pinus sylvestris forest. The national border is on the main channel of the river. There are still warnings on the shore reminding tourists not to cross the border. ?

The main channel in the middle is the dividing line between China and Russia

I heard that the people at the ticket office of the scenic spot said that the northernmost point is at Ussuri Shoal. We think this should be the northernmost point. . Everyone was excitedly playing and taking photos on the ice, or rather on the river, enjoying the magnificent scenery of the North Country

The northernmost courtyard by the Ussuri Shoal

Everyone After having fun, I felt I still had some time to prepare to go further and see the town of Karen. Walking a few hundred meters forward, I found a square by the river. A stone tablet beside the square was engraved with a red five-star and the word China. Below it was: 123°15′30″ east longitude, 53°33′42″ north latitude, altitude 287M. At first glance, I suddenly realized that this is the symbol of China’s northernmost point. ?

We parked the car at the northernmost point in China

Of course, strictly speaking, the northernmost point should be on the main channel in the middle of the Jiejiang River. This is the northernmost point on land. . There is a large stone standing about 50 meters south of the stele. We turned to the front and took a look, and wrote: "China's northernmost point" in five big characters. ?

The big stone with the words "China's northernmost point" written on it

It can be said that I thought I found north but actually found north unexpectedly. Surprised, we all took photos again. ?

The northernmost and easternmost points of the motherland

The Northland Skystone next to the northernmost point

It was already past 4 pm, so the time was We had no choice but to give up our plan to go to the small town of Karen and return to S209 along the bumpy road we came from.

?

Return to the S209 Provincial Highway along the original road

Continue to rush along the S209 Highway in the Daxinganling forest area toward Heihe. ?

Continuing along the S209 Provincial Highway

I saw many engineering workers laying pipes for unknown purposes along the roadside. When it was getting dark, we arrived at a town called Twenty-two Stations. When we saw a self-driving camp here, we immediately drove in. Accommodation was average but there was no choice as the next town was a hundred kilometers away.

Although the weather was freezing and snowy along the way, everyone’s hearts were warm, and the people they knew were also very enthusiastic. However, it was relatively cold no matter where we were, and the snow on the ground was also relatively cold. It is thick. It is recommended that self-driving friends try not to travel here during the season. There are still certain safety risks. In addition, you must take good measures to keep warm. The rest is to enjoy it!