In this village in Russia, the temperature is as low as minus 70 degrees. How do the villagers live?

Oymyakon is located in Eastern Siberia, covering an area of ??422km?, on the upper reaches of the Indigirka River. It is one of the "cold poles" in the northern hemisphere. In mid-January 2018, the extremely cold weather of -67°C was measured in the village of Oymyakon, almost tying the record of -67.7°C measured in February 1933. Oymyakon is one of the coldest permanent settlements in the world, with 500 villagers living here year-round.

Oymyakon is a small town in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic of the Russian Federation, not far from Yakutsk, the capital of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. 600 kilometers, there is only one road from Yakutsk to Oymyakon - the Kolyma Highway, known as the "Highway of Bones"

Oymyakon** *There are 500 residents, many of whom have ancestors who have lived here for a long time. Most residents make a living by hunting or raising cows and reindeer. There used to be a milk processing plant here, which closed in October 2007. To protect cows from frostbite, leather bags are used to wrap the cows' udders. Despite this, local residents are not short of milk, and they store frozen milk in cellars 1 meter underground.

Oymyakon was already famous throughout the world during the Soviet period because many long-lived elderly people lived here. Traditional factors such as completely pure air and water, an active lifestyle and a healthy diet likely play an important role. Dr. Innokenti Novgorodov from the local clinic said that the local child mortality rate has always been very high. In the past, only newborns who were very strong and healthy in all aspects could survive. Dr. Novgorodov is 71 years old, and his assistant is also 72 years old. The clinic does not have a dedicated operating room or even an X-ray machine. The only 11 beds available are already occupied by patients because hospitals in other areas are unwilling to admit them. People mainly make a living from reindeer husbandry, hunting and fishing. Strangely, the locals are not malnourished. Doctors say the secret is that the locals consume animal milk, which contains a variety of trace elements, and pick wild berries to supplement nutrition.

In the village of Oymyakon, there are few villagers still alive who experienced the record low temperatures in the 1920s and 1930s. But 85-year-old Yegor Vinokurov is one. "When the most terrible winter came, I was only five or six years old," he said. "We couldn't go out for several weeks. It was so cold that the birds froze in the air and fell to the ground. The earth It looked split, and the air itself rattled like hay in those temperatures, and the only way we could go outside all winter long was to wrap our faces in rabbit fur.

Despite all the grimness. But many people say they love the climate and long for the harsh winter. "The cold is good for you," said villager Valentin Atrasov. It keeps you healthy and kills bacteria. I could live in Moscow, but this is where I want to be, where I can hunt and fish. Life here may seem hard to you, but we have clean air, clean food, mushrooms and berries. We are very happy.

Andrei Danilov, a Tungus man, is 102 years old. He has been living on reindeer. Today, the Tungus people no longer use reindeer skins to make tents, so Andrei can live in a canvas tent when the outdoor temperature reaches -60°C. His parents died at the ages of 117 and 108 respectively. Andrei's friends Ariyan and Avrosniya live in a yurt and have no children. Not long ago, at the age of 90, they adopted a girl as their adopted daughter. Usually, they make a living by raising cattle. They said that they almost never got sick because of their regular consumption of two dairy products named "Hayek" and "Joel Cech". The taste and color of Hayek make people think of fatty oil, while Joel Cech, from its recipe, is more like the ice cream people usually eat. Fresh milk and berries are stirred together, and the paste is passed through After freezing, it is shaped into a cake and becomes Joel Cech.

The most famous dish of Oymyakon is raw and frozen fish fillets. Locals usually catch delicious sturgeon, omul and broadnose whitefish under the ice for raw materials. When the Tungus fishermen catch fish, they can hit it with one hit and then freeze the fish. When freezing, the fish should always be kept straight, otherwise it will be difficult to fillet. Eating raw fish fillets is a bit like eating Spanish ham. After bringing the fish that has been frozen outdoors into the house, cut it into thin slices immediately. When peeling fish, pay special attention to leaving a thin layer of subcutaneous fat in each layer, which is rich in heart-healthy and anti-aging omega-3 fatty acids.

These dishes cannot be cooked or even transported in any southern Russian city. Like the dazzling sunshine, hundred-year-old reindeer and Yakut ponies, they all belong only to the northern cold arctic region.

Such low temperatures cause many inconveniences in daily life, such as pen ink freezing, glass lenses freezing and cracking, and batteries losing power rapidly. Locals said car engines must keep working around the clock and may not be able to restart after being shut down for a while. Although there is cell phone network, cell phones don't work at all in the extreme cold weather.

Another trouble caused by the freezing weather to the villagers is burying the dead. They must light a bonfire with coal and burn it for several hours to allow the soil to thaw. Then they push the hot coal aside and start digging. After about ten centimeters down, light a bonfire again to defrost, and repeat several times.

It can take up to three days to dig a grave large enough to bury a coffin.

There are almost no modern facilities in the village. Most villagers have to go out of their homes to use the toilet. Most families still rely on coal or wood for heating. Electricity relies on coal, and once the supply of coal is interrupted, the village's power station starts burning wood. If the power is cut off, the entire village will be paralyzed within 5 hours and the water pipes will freeze and burst. Many villagers have computers and slow Internet speeds, and there are imported candies and biscuits, but the villagers' diet is still largely traditional frozen fish sticks and horse meat. They were kept in caves dug out from under the house, accessible through a trap door, usually from the kitchen. The Yakuts still cling to their traditions and love their way of life.

There is a small shop in the village selling daily necessities.