In the vast forests of the Lesser Xing’an Mountains, there is an extremely dangerous job – picking pine cones. Pickers need to climb pine trees standing as tall as dozens of meters, wielding long bamboo poles and striking hard. As the branches sway, their bodies toss like a lone boat on rough waves – a job demanding both courage and endurance. That’s why most cone pickers are men. But Wang Yuhong is an exception. Starting in her twenties, she has been on the job for over 20 years.In 2025, the total output value of Heilongjiang’s under-forest economy exceeded 102.1 billion yuan (approximately 15.09 billion US dollars). The province’s forest volume reached 2.238 billion cubic meters. This is what the people of the forest region call “Green Heilongjiang”, and it is also the “invaluable assets” in their hearts.
