God's Private Land—— Hemu Village.

In the beautiful Xinjiang, there is a small mountain village—Hemu Village. The log cabins scattered throughout the village, small bridges and flowing water, and the curling smoke from the chimneys create a picturesque and mysterious scene, much like Kanas Lake. The houses in Hemu Village are all made of logs, exuding a primitive charm. Hemu Village is famous for its intoxicating autumn scenery, with mountains covered in red foliage. The smoke rising in the autumn air forms a dreamy mist, resembling a fairyland. From the small hills surrounding Hemu Village, one can overlook the entire village and the Hemu River: a secluded valley, small bridges and flowing water, and horsemen kicking up dust as they pass through the forest... The iconic building of Hemu Village has withstood the impact of the Kanas glacier meltwater for over a century, appearing ancient and solid. The icy cold river water is as simple and pure as Hemu Village itself, with lush green vegetation along the banks nourished by the moisture, creating a thick and rich verdure. Crossing the Hemu Bridge, on the other side of the river, there is a large birch forest. Under the setting sun, it is the most poetic scene, as if all the worries of the world are left behind, leaving only oneself. In the morning, a ray of sunlight falls on the distant mountain top, dyeing it pink. Slowly, the sunlight pierces through the light mist above the village, lazily slanting down, seemingly reluctant to disturb this beautiful village still in its slumber. Hemu is beautiful, surrounded by forests like oil paintings, with the Hemu River flowing through it. It is said that the water of the Hemu River is gray-blue, and in the interplay of light and shadow on the water, you can feel a kind of melancholy, a deadly beautiful melancholy... In winter, the snow in Hemu is two meters deep. The cattle and sheep raised by the villagers cannot graze outside and have to eat the hay stored by their owners in the summer. If there is too much hay to transport home, it is piled up on the spot into stacks called "wotao" in Mongolian, meaning haystacks. The wotao are surrounded by wooden fences and ditches to prevent livestock from jumping in. While livestock can't jump in, many deer do during heavy snowstorms. Each wotao holds about 30 cubic meters of hay, roughly two tons, and each household has a different number of wotao depending on the number of their livestock, with some having as many as thirty or forty. These wotao are made by the locals with scythes. In winter, when cattle and sheep cannot graze outside, people use horse-drawn sleds to transport the hay back home to feed them. Sheep have poor foraging abilities, so they are kept indoors for up to seven months, which is why locals raise more large livestock like cattle and horses rather than sheep. Generally, the villagers of Hemu River have two residences, one for summer and one for winter. However, there are no yurts, only log cabins with pointed roofs, a style learned from the Belarusians. ——Attached are photos of Hemu in winter.