Enhe Russian Ethnic Township () is an
ethnic township
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
in Northeast
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
under the administration of
Ergun City
Ergun (; mn, Эргүн ''Ergün''), formerly Ergun Right Banner ( mn, ''Эргүнэ хот''; ), is a county-level city in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, containing the autonomous region's northernmost point. The city has an area of , and a popul ...
.
The township along the banks of the
Argun River.
Enhe is the only ethnic township in
China designated for China's
Russian minority.
Enhe spans an area of , and has a population of 2,339 people as of 2017.
Geography
Enhe spans an area of , with its center located north of
Ergun's urban center.
Enhe's terrain is largely hilly, with its elevation ranging from to above sea level.
The ethnic township shares a border with
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, determined by the
Argun River.
Flora and fauna
The ethnic township hosts much undisturbed nature, including large swathes of virgin forests and grasslands.
Plants native to Enhe include
lingonberries
''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'', the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Norther ...
,
blueberries,
Chinese skullcaps, and
dangshen.
Animals native to Enhe include the
Asian black bear, the
Siberian roe deer
The Siberian roe deer, eastern roe deer, or Asian roe (''Capreolus pygargus''), is a species of roe deer found in northeastern Asia. In addition to Siberia and Mongolia, it is found in Kazakhstan, the Tian Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan, eastern Ti ...
, the
lynx, and the
Hazel grouse
The hazel grouse (''Tetrastes bonasia''), sometimes called the hazel hen, is one of the smaller members of the grouse family of birds. It is a sedentary species, breeding across the Palearctic as far east as Hokkaido, and as far west as eastern a ...
.
Climate
Enhe experiences an average annual temperature between and , with the lowest recorded temperature being , and the highest recorded temperature being .
The ethnic township experiences an average annual precipitation between and .
On average, Enhe experiences 90 frost-free days per year.
Demographics
As of March 2017, Enhe's population totals 2,339,
and is largely
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
and descended from mixed marriages of
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...
and Russians.
A 2019 publication from the
ethnic township's government states that 1,309 of Enhe's 2,339 people, or 55.96% of its total population, is either ethnically Russian or have both Russian and Chinese heritage,
whereas a 2021 publication from
Ergun's municipal government suggests that 80% of Enhe's population have some Russian lineage.
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books.
History Early years
Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarke ...
observes that some of the people in the township "look purely Russian".
Records of marriages between Chinese and Russians in the region date back to the 1890s from the beginning of Russian colonization of
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...
. Unlike the conventional colonial marriage pattern of Western men marrying native women, the predominant combination in Manchuria was between Russian women and Chinese men. Mixed families are mainly settled along the towns and villages of the Argun River including Enhe, which is the only one of the settlements to be an official ethnic Russian township.
In addition to Russian and Han Chinese populations, Enhe is also home to significant
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
,
Hui
The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...
,
Manchu,
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
,
Daur,
Oroqen, and
Evenk populations.
Economy
Sizable mineral resources run through the region, including
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
,
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
,
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
,
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
and
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
.
Enhe hosts one state-owned ranch and two state-owned tree farms.
Education
There is one school: Ergun City Enhe Primary School (额尔古纳市恩和小学).
Tourism
Enhe has emerged as a tourism destination noted for its peaceful countryside backdrop.
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books.
History Early years
Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarke ...
describes Enhe as "a charming village brimming with an unhurried and authentic atmosphere" where "herders milk their cows outside their properties when they aren't taking them out to pasture".
Tourism is also enhanced by the Russian cultural ties of the township including Russian bakeries and buildings with the architectural stylings of traditional Russian wooden cottages.
There is also homestay accommodation in Enhe giving a representation of traditional Russian village living.
There are plans to enclose the village and charge an entrance fee.
See also
*
Shiwei, Inner Mongolia
Shiwei () is a sum (a type of township-level division) under the administration of Ergun City, Inner Mongolia. The township is located in Northeastern Inner Mongolia on the border with Russia.
The township is one of the border crossings between ...
- Neighboring town
References
{{Authority control
Township-level divisions of Inner Mongolia
Ethnic townships of the People's Republic of China
Ergun City
Russian diaspora in China