Anchun

Anchun belongs to the Ussuri basin, a forested and mountainous region extending through the Russian Far East and southeastern Heilongjiang. The Ussuri rises in the Sikhote-Alin and runs about 897 kilometres north to the Amur near Khabarovsk. Rain supplies most of its water, snowmelt contributes a large share, and springs feed the rest.

Udege and other Tungusic peoples used the valleys for hunting, fishing and seasonal camps. Dense forests held fur-bearing animals, while salmon runs and river fish provided food. Boats and winter trails followed the main channel and tributaries, and trade connected forest communities with Chinese, Manchu and later Russian settlements. The river’s name appeared as “soot-black river” and as “River of Foxes” in local languages.

Severe winter ice and summer floods shaped settlement along the lowlands. The Ussuri joined the Amur corridor and became a route for furs, grain and manufactured goods. Anchun’s identity comes from this broad forest-river landscape of Tungusic communities and seasonal movement rather than from a single fortified town. Salmon runs supplied seasonal abundance. Fish drying and fur preparation supported winter exchange, while river ice opened routes to distant settlements of the lower Amur. Forked channels held fish through winter.