Wusong Island (Rime Island)

Background

Wusong Island lies in Wulajie Manchu Town, Longtan District, Jilin City, Jilin Province, and is an island in the middle of the Songhua River. Hantun Village and Zengtongtun beside the island are the two main rime-viewing spots. Rime, popularly called “tree hangings”, is made of white ice crystals that form when water vapor rising from the river meets bitter cold and freezes onto branches. Water released from the Fengman Hydropower Station upstream stays above 4°C in winter, so the Songhua near Jilin City hardly freezes; plenty of vapor rises from the river and, in the cold, coats the trees along both banks. The Jilin Rime Ice and Snow Festival has been held since 1991.

Local customs

• You can follow the rhythm of “mist at night, rime at dawn, falling rime before noon”: the evening before, around 10 p.m., watch the mist rise from the river (the thicker the mist, the more rime the next day)
• at dawn, see the trees laden with rime, a good time for photos
• after 9 a.m. the rime starts to drift down in the sunshine. You can also stay on a heated kang bed in a Hantun Village farmhouse, eat Manchu hotpot, and try throwing water into the air to freeze it when it is cold enough.

Travel tips

• Rime depends on the weather and does not appear every day, so check the forecast before you go. Winters are bitterly cold, with temperatures that can fall below minus twenty degrees, so bring plenty of warm clothing, hand warmers and spare batteries
• put your camera in a sealed bag before going indoors to prevent fogging.
• First go to Jilin City, then travel by car from the city to Hantun Village or Zengtongtun in Wulajie town
• there is no direct train, and schedules are subject to local arrangements. The rime season usually runs from December to February
• in summer the island is open farmland and there is no rime.