Herding his cultural resources

In 2015, Juele finally decided to follow his heart and returned to Aoluguya township to take over the task of raising reindeer from his aging mother.

Rearing reindeer is monotonous, lonely and sometimes difficult.

The reindeer live in the dense forest in the hinterland of the Greater Hinggan Mountains, which is more than 10 kilometers away from the nearest town. Living in such a remote area with no mobile signal, Juele has to battle intense solitude.

The weather verges on the unbearable. Aoluguya is located in Genhe, known as "the cold pole of China", where the temperature in winter can sometimes drop below-50 C.

For most people, spending a few minutes exposed to this temperature would be dangerous.

But the Aoluguya Ewenki people like Juele, who live here, often walk for several kilometers through knee-deep snow to find their herd.

From Dec 23 to Jan 1, Juele spent more than eight hours every day searching the snow-covered forest before finding his reindeer.

"That was the best New Year's gift I've ever received, and this gift also suggests to me that 2023 is going to be a wonderful year," Juele says.