Overnight
The small villages in northern Xinjiang are all over the network
In just 20 days, a small village was flooded with more than 40,000 tourists.
The northern village, Hemu, has recently taken over social media pages.
Birch, green grass, wildflowers, snow and ice. In the lens of many bloggers, there is a beauty that can be called a fairyland on earth. "Super film" has become the biggest praise here.
This winter, my circle of friends is constantly swiped by friends who go to Hemu, these fashionable girls who have to go to Hokkaido, Switzerland in the past winter, and the worst to go to Beidahu, all stood in front of Hemu's wooden house, and sighed: I accidentally fell into the fairy tale world.
This small border village under the Altai Mountains has been a popular place for photographers to take pictures of the sunrise for more than a decade.
It has a short tourist season and poor access in winter. But in the past 2 years, because of the long snow season, the snow shoveling video with the locals has become popular. Nowadays, there is an endless stream of people, traveling long distances just to see the snow scene of the fairy tale world.
On social media, almost every picture of Hemu's snow scene can arouse people's admiration, which satisfies everyone's beautiful imagination of a quiet and lonely village at the end of the world.
But when you get here, you find that there are only a few real local Tuvan residents, and you can only face a large number of newly built B&B hotels, enjoying the coffee and food of the city people.
Some people feel that fortunately there is a business, and they can change from Anfu Road in Shanghai to Hemu, and the same attitude does not need to change. Some people also feel that the Internet celebrity filter is shattered, and the fantasy fireplace and bonfire are replaced by kimono and lying down, and the photos are all retouched in post-production.
Between red and black, this is a split snow village of Hemu.
01
Different seasons
Great view of the chalet and the ski slopes
Of course, Hemu is beautiful.
Bobo, from Guangdong, is a travel expert who has traveled to more than 70 countries, and Hemu is one of her favorite destinations.
In Bobo's camera, the seasons here are like overturned palettes: the morning mist reflecting golden light, the picnic after the rain, and the endless meadows all shine with their unique charm.
That's right, Hemu can be on fire, largely because it has a feeling that is difficult for city people to find. It is a treasure trove for tourists.
Looking at the scenery on social media, most of the scenery can be amazed: white snow and ice, silver rime, spire wooden houses with steam rising from chimneys, and still flowing water in the river......
No wonder some people sigh that in Hemu, the "God's own land", they took photos of their lives.
Behind the dream photos is the unique geography of Hemu. The Altay region has always had the title of "Northern Xinjiang Water Tower", where water and grass are abundant and the natural environment is superior. Of course, it also brings winter snowfall that is hard to escape.
In winter, the cumulative snowfall can reach 100 mm, and the snow depth is generally between 80 and 140 cm.
As for the maximum snow depth, it is even more outrageous, more than 2 meters, which is a level that most ordinary adults cannot handle. In the early years, the Hemu people even spent half the winter shoveling snow.
Some time ago, He Mu became popular because of a short video of a homeowner cleaning up the snow on the roof, and as soon as the brush was up, the whole snow slipped down directly. At once, it attracted a lot of southerners who "have never seen winter".
Bobo is one of them. In August of this year, she just came back and finished photographing wild chrysanthemums and birch forests. In November, it flew again. She said that the biggest reason why she likes Hemu is her yearning for snow.
In winter, the scenery is still very beautiful, and it can even be said to have a unique flavor. Whether it's a cabin in the cold winter with a few friends, or go outside to ride horses and hike in the forest at the edge of the village.
The abundant snowfall not only gives Hemu a beautiful coat, but also produces high-quality ski slopes.
Altay has three major ski resorts: Jiangjun Mountain, Jikpulin and Keketuohai, of which Jikpulin is located in Hemu, which is famous for its powder snow.
Powder snow, which is soft, drier, and doesn't melt easily, is ideal for skiing.
In fact, the history of Jikepulin is very short, and the construction officially began in June 2021, but now, it has become a ski resort on the same level as Jiangjun Mountain and Keketuohai.
This is the first year of ski instructor Xiaobai in Xinjiang, and he often travels back and forth between the two ski resorts of Jiangjun Mountain and Hemu. He said that the natural conditions of Hemu are the best.
Most of the people who come to Hemu to ski are relatively senior enthusiasts, and they all come for the mountain snow. Because the altitude of Jikepulin is not low, and the scale is large and the slope is long, the slope in the course is more than 30 degrees, which is very steep.
"A lot of people like to rush all the way down here, and it's hard to find that feeling in other ski resorts. He said.
Bobo's thoughts are also the same as Xiaobai's, in her eyes, Jikepolin's experience is comparable to Alaska in the United States.
Therefore, even if the ticket price of Hemu is more expensive, the ticket price of the ski resort is three or four hundred on non-holidays, and it is still in the market.
With beautiful villages and excellent snow resorts, it is not surprising that Hemu is hot. Even in December, the off-season for local tourism, it is already crowded.
02
The traffic is inconvenient and overcrowded
A contrasting winter day in Hemu
He Mu, who has become an Internet celebrity, has attracted a large number of tourists who come to visit. For no other reason, there are so many beautiful scenery on the Internet, and anyone wants to come and see it on the spot.
But this look has made some people fall behind.
Most people who come to Xinjiang for tourism will choose to drive, because it is too big, and with a car, it can be regarded as having legs. But along with it, there is a problem that every tourist to Hemu can't escape - the traffic here is too inconvenient.
In recent years, despite the high-speed construction to the airport, it still takes 4 to 5 hours to drive from Altay to Hemu. If you start from the capital Urumqi, the distance is even farther.
In addition, there is often heavy snow in winter, and if the mountain is closed in extreme weather, it can only ask for more blessings, and it is common to be trapped in the village for ten days and half a month.
In comparison, Jiangjun Mountain is only a few kilometers away from Altay, and it only costs twenty or thirty yuan to take a taxi from the city. And a trip to Hemu, the tickets for the ski resort, the village, plus the round-trip fare, the cost of a day is modest.
In addition to objective conditions such as transportation and climate, a high degree of commercialization and over-marketing also plague Hemu, and the experience for tourists is difficult to describe.
Hemu Village was originally inhabited by the Tuvan people, who have lived in the northern region for generations, living as nomads, fishing and hunting. So until the boom in the past two years, Hemu was not visited by outsiders.
In recent years, with the improvement of living standards, many Hemu villagers have also had new homes in surrounding towns, such as Burjin, Altay and even Urumqi, and go to the city to spend the winter in winter. After all, for the locals, it's a bit funny to have the heating and go back to the chalet to burn the fire.
But tourists are here to make a fire. In response to these demands, an influx of out-of-town merchants has made it look like all the other attractions, cookie-cutter and boring.
The original wooden houses are hung with signboards selling goods that can be found in all ancient Chinese towns: postcards, small wood carvings, lucky bags and gift boxes. Street signs like "I miss you very much in Hemu" cannot, of course, be missing.
Another result of influencers is the huge foot traffic. Some of the more famous scenic spots, such as Hemu Bridge and the observation deck that can overlook the whole village, are most of the time ubiquitous "snow scene check-iners".
In the index statistics of search engines, since December, the search popularity of Hemu is even higher than that of Kanas, an established attraction next door.
Similarly, if you search for keywords such as "Hemu" and "check-in" on social media, you can also find a large number of posts and shares. It's just that under many beautiful photos, the blogger himself complains helplessly: there are too many people.
03
Behind the "Little London" of Northern Xinjiang
Prices are high and quality is worrisome
The rapidly expanding demand for tourism has also labeled Hemu as "expensive" and "low quality". The "parity with London" jokingly called by netizens is not an exaggeration at all.
The first is catering. In the restaurants in Hemu Village, it costs forty or fifty to fry any vegetable for a few people, and it is common for several people to eat a meal, hundreds or thousands.
Of course, Xinjiang is a vast country, with many transportation limitations, and there are not many options for food in winter. Everyone has some expectations for the fact that food and drink are expensive.
But in terms of "living", it's a different scene.
The first time Bobo came to Hemu was in 2020. She said that at that time, there were only a few homestays in the whole village, there were not many choices, and the decoration was not as good as it is now. Of course, the price is also more affordable than now, and you can live for a whole night for a few hundred yuan.
Now Hemu, there are more boutique homestays, but the housing prices are also on the rocket. In the peak tourist season, "it basically costs more than 1,000 a night." A little better, two or three thousand is not a lot. ”
She is not exaggerating, she casually opened a travel website to check the price of Hemu in December, and almost couldn't find a room below 4 figures.
Xiaobai's story also confirms Bobo's statement. Despite working in Hemu, he chose to live in Altay for a long time, and the reason is that the expenses here are much cheaper than those of Hemu.
He now shares a whole villa with a few friends, and it is only 3,500 yuan a month. At this price, you can only stay for a few nights in Hemu.
But the high price paid by tourists has not been exchanged for high quality. Hemu's guesthouse is similar to the peaked log cabin in Shirakawa-go, Japan, which looks beautiful, but many of them are vain.
Judging from Bobo's experience, the quality of Hemu's homestay has declined a lot in the past two years. There are many temporary B&Bs, just clean up the room, make a bed, and dare to take it out for tourists to live. "It's just about making money."
There are not a few people who complain about this on the Internet, and their Hemu living experience is basically not of quality. Even some worse hotels did not even do a good job of wind protection and warmth, so they had to spend the night.
All these things have made many tourists cry out for disappointment. If you remove the unique geographical conditions and natural scenery, Hemu is no different from other Internet celebrity villages in China.
04
There is a big gap in image
The story of He Mu is not strange
What to think of an "Internet celebrity" attraction like Hemu, in fact, no one can say for sure.
Xiao Guo, who is now studying abroad, recalled the first time he went to Hemu, which was in the distant year of 2008, not to mention Internet celebrities, and even the word "Internet" was still limited to computers.
At that time, Hemu was just a local village, and there were occasional tourists who only passed by here on their journey to Kanas as a short stop.
The current Hemu has been labeled by netizens as many times. From the praise of films, powder snow, and fairyland on earth, to the derogatory impetuousness, business, and high consumption. Good and bad revolve around Hemu, and it's hard to say which is the real one.
What Bo Bo and Xiaobai see is a different Hemu. And in the eyes of many netizens, the image of Hemu is not uniform.
Indeed, it is like a divided village. But this also means that there is no one standard answer to how to appreciate it.
In Variations on a Spanish Theme, Maugham jokes that Iberian travels are always depressed, but when he passes by the small village of Extremadura, he sighs at the ease of spinning wheels, livestock and canvas curtains under the windows.
The same is true of Hemu, just like a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people, sometimes the most valuable thing is your own feelings.