At first glance many people wonder why I took a picture of myself in a lumber yard. First, this is in the railway yards of Mohe, China's most northern town, bordering Russian Siberia (the equivalent of going to Canada's Alert on Ellesmere Island). Second, as the northern province of Heilongjiang is home to some of China's last great forests one does not see a large stockpile of trees like this in other cities or towns. So, tailored up in my Mao-look-a-like shirt and hat, I took the picture to mark my journey out into the wilds of frontier China.