Raohe County, Heilongjiang Province, is located on the border between China and Russia. It is one of the main settlements of the Hezhe ethnic group in China. The Hezhe ethnic group lives in the Heilongjiang, Songhuajiang and Wusulijiang River basins. Historically, the Hezhe people made their livings by fishing and hunting. In the early years, most of their clothes and bedding were sewn with fish skin, and they were known as the "fish skin tribe". The clothes of the Hezhe people are mostly made of fish skin such as bighead carp, sturgeon and salmon. Not only are fish skins used as raw materials for clothing, but the threads used by the Hezhe people to sew clothes are also made of fish skin. The Hezhe people have superb skills in tanning fish skin. The fish skin thread is made by scraping off the scales of bighead carp, applying oily dog fish liver to keep it soft and moist, then folding and flattening it, and then cutting it into thin filaments with a knife. At present, with the reduction of fishery resources, Hezhe fishermen have turned their attention to the tourism industry. They show tourists their fish skin making process. Hezhe artists have also developed fish skin paintings and promoted them online, which are popular among enthusiasts around the world. In June 2006, the fish skin making technique of the Hezhe people was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.