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The "ice city" Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, is the latest sensation on China's internet. The splendid ice sculptures, the hospitable locals and the folk culture have attracted record numbers of tourists.

The arrival of many ethnic minorities living in north China brought Harbin's popularity to a climax. Among the many minorities along Zhongyang Street, a bustling commercial pedestrian street in the city, there is a group of people wearing hats and clothes made of animal skin and fur, and leading reindeer. They are China's last hunting tribe, the Ewenki.

The Ewenki people showcase their culture along Zhongyang Street in Harbin City, January 7, 2024. /CFP

Known as "the people of the mountains," they are the only ethnic minority group in China that raises reindeer, and the animal plays an essential part in their daily lives.

They ride horses across the grasslands, keep reindeer company and make handicrafts from natural resources. They are in nature and are friends of nature.

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As early as 2000 BC, the forefathers of the Ewenki lived in the region of Lake Baikal. In 1732, some 1600 Ewenki soldiers and their dependents moved to the Hulunbuir Grassland in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and settled down there.

The Ewenki with reindeer in Genhe City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, February 9, 2012. /CFP

Nowadays, the Ewenki people mainly live in certain regions in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang Province. As of 2021, there are only over 30,000 Ewenki people in China and as Harbin's snow season attracts interest from across China and beyond, people are getting to know more about them.

For more:

The Oroqen: Once forest hunters, now superstars in ice-cold Harbin