A two hour train ride brought us to Tieli, in Yichun prefecture. Even further north, about as far as you can go without being in Russia. An easy ride in, and we grabbed a taxi to take us the rest of the way, make it easy on ourselves. We stopped at our rafting point, dropped our bags, and pushed off. The river was fast, and I kept feeling transported back to Montana the whole time. We drank beers, people splashed us with metal bowls filled with water. We hopped off for a photo and slammed drinks with dudes hanging on the rocks, BBQ'ing. Spectacular stuff, and I had no idea there were so many options for this type of thing so close by. We got out of the water, fully satisfied. Changed, and hit the main road. I stuck my thumb out, and a guy picked us up. We asked him, where can we light a fire? He said we'd get in trouble if we did it in the mountains, but by the river is alright. He said, I have a hotel nearby, and you could do it there. We roll up to his hotel, and it's literally one of dozens of row-house style spots. Small rooms line by line, with a fan. We decline, but tell him we'll eat his food. We grab a table outside, and upon popping my head in, am greeted by a dozen heavy, shirtless Dongbei dudes, all screaming at me. They give me a beer. Ganbei! (cheers). We eat local pork, take away four dark German tallboys, and set out to find a place by the river to light a fire. Skulls line everyone's apartment blocks, and all I can think of is Montana. It was really mind-boggling to me. The small town, proper, has a lot of pride in what they do. A giant wooden sign tells the story. It consists of 12 restaurants, 6 KTV's, a waterpark, shitloads of hotels, and a few small shops. That's it. A ghost town at night, I can't help but think it'd be perfect to shoot a horror movie in. This was a hell of a day, and we will be back in a few weeks, for sure. Cheers. #tieli #yichun #china (at Yichun, Heilongjiang)
