The population is about five thousand. The Hezhe people mainly reside in the Tongjiang County, Raohe County and Fuyuan County of Heilongjiang Province. A few Hezhe people live in some villages and towns of Huachuan, Yilan and Furao Counties and Jiamusi City. The Hezhe people use the Hezhe language, which belongs to the Manchu branch of Manchu-Tungusic languages of Altaic language family, which includes two dialects: Qileng and Hezhen. At present, only people above the age of 50 and 60 can speak the Hezhe language. Others use Chinese because of the long-term interaction with the Han people. The Hezhe ethnic group does not have its own script and the people use Chinese characters. The Hezhe people have long been engaged in the fishing industry and have accumulated abundant fishing experience. At the same time, they also run a variety of business such as farming and livestock raising. The Hezhe people originally believed in Shamanism and animism. Their religion was mainly practised in the form of worship of the ancestors and the nature. The major festivals of Hezhe people are largely similar to those of the Han, such as the “Spring Festival”, “Lantern Festival”, “Longtaitou Festival”, “Ching Ming Festival”, “Dragon Boat Festival”, “Mid-Autumn Festival”, etc. Their “Spring Festival” is especially magnificent. Moreover, the Hezhe people celebrate the “Wurigong Festival” which is a newborn festival for the Hezhe people. “Wurigong” means entertainment or a cultural and sports event. The “Wurigong Festival” is held every two years, normally during the fifth and sixth lunar month, and lasts for three days.