Icicles outside a shop. [Photo by Wang Yan/ For China Daily]

Willy the border collie had in effect become my master, confidently leading me to the shop, obviously drawn by the heart-felt warmth of the big sign hanging outside the door: "Dogs welcome".

It was like any of those gift shops you find in tourism spots. At this time of the year it rents out ski equipment, but because pets are barred from the well-groomed ski trails, that seemed to rule us out as customers.

"Dog sledding and wildlife watching are both popular activities," the shop owner helpfully suggests.

Since local businesses generally provide dog sledding services in the form of day trips, meaning you will have to commit six hours from 9 am to 3 pm, and we had apparently missed the departure time, the best option left was to try our luck with the wildlife.

Over the next couple of hours we failed to spot a single mammal, reptile, amphibian or bird, the best we could manage being a sketch of a moose on a traffic sign warning "Danger 45 km".

Not only that, but mammals of the human species were also nowhere to be seen.

"Are you still sure this is worth doing?" I asks Rachel in the car.

"Of course," she says. "We just need to get a bit closer."

"A bit closer to what?" I wonder. But before being able to put that to Rachel she had pulled into a parking bay on the side of the road, and turned around, saying: "Let's get out."