Pretty in salmon

By Ruth Lor Malloy (City Weekend)
Updated: 2007-03-08 11:20

It took You 20 days to make each set of children's clothing from the skin of the soft underbelly of the fish. The clothing she makes for museums have no chemicals and the color will darken with age.

You and her friend demonstrate the local fishing industry in dance form for visiting tourists. For more local flavor, the village offers a museum and store with fish bone sculptures and modern fish skin shoes and purses, made in south China from Heilongjiang fish skins.

Another and larger museum about the Hezhe people is just outside the nearby city of Jiamusi. Exhibited there are fishing implements, old costumes and historical paintings and photos.

To live off of the land is one thing, but to live off of the fish is something all those interested in our finned friends should see.

Travel Tips

Getting there: Fly directly to Jiamusi, near Hezhe, and then hire a driver to arrive at the village. To arrange a trip through an English speaker, contact Lu Yong at the Heilongjiang China International Travel Service, call 0451-5366 1178, e-mail: luyong@mail.hrb.hl.cninfo.net or check www.hljcits.com.

Where to stay: The Heilongjiang China International Travel Service can help arrange a stay in the village with one of the Hezhe families or at a nearby hotel.

What to eat: The salmon not only looks good on, but is delicious and fresh to eat.

Where to play: The museums give a decent overview of the Hezhe people, but hanging out with the villagers in their homes was just as educational and more fun.