Heilongjiang

Home to the wondrous Harbin Ice & Snow Festival, and the world's largest indoor ski facility, the capital of Heilongjiang (哈尔滨; Hā’ěrbīn), located on the Songhua River, is a stylish city and a highlight of any trip through Dongbei.

Cars (and even bicycles) are barred from the timeworn cobbles of Zhongyang Dajie, the main drag of the city's historic quarter, where the densest cluster of Harbin’s old buildings can be found.

The city’s sights are as varied as the architectural styles on the old street. Temples, churches and synagogues coexist, while deep in the southern suburbs a former Japanese germ-warfare base is a sobering reminder of less harmonious times.

Harbin’s Russian and Jewish heritage is best explored during summer wanderings under blue skies, but winter is when Harbin really heats up, as travellers rug up to visit a neon-clad, subzero theme park created entirely from ice.

Basalt rivers, azure lakes and tree-sprouting volcanos await those hardy enough to head north from Harbin (or south from Russia) to the Lost World of Wudalian Chi (五大连池, Wǔdàlián Chí). There's not much to do other than breathe in the heady vistas; luckily there aren't many quite like these.

The last time the volcanoes erupted was in 1720, when the lava flow blocked the nearby North River (Běi Hé), forming the series of five interconnected lakes that give the area its name. Wudalian Chi is about 250km northwest of Harbin and, in addition to the volcanic landscape, is home to mineral springs that draw busloads of Chinese and Russian tourists to slurp the allegedly curative waters. So many Russians roll up that the town’s street signs are in both Chinese and Russian.

It’s only really viable to visit Wudalian Chi between May and October because of the cold and wind the rest of the year.

A popular, it not always reliable viewing spot for the aurora borealis, Mohe (漠河, Mòhé) is a modest town backed by Siberian pine forests and craggy mountain ranges. Its mushy bogs turn lush in summer, but much of the year Mohe is dipped in snow. In this region it is also possible to see dwindling settlements of northern minorities, such as the Daur, Ewenki, Hezhen and Oroqen.

Mohe is one of China’s most intriguing outliers, sharing not just a border with Russia, but architecture as well. In 1985 the town burned to the ground in a raging forest fire and when it came time to rebuild, Mohe decided to redo the main streets in an imperial-era Russian style with spired domes, pillared entrances and facades with rows of narrow windows.

Head 25km north from here to find Beihongcun, China's northernmost point.