The winds gusting across the exposed treeless uplands on the edge of the great Mongolian plateau make this one of the most miserable places in northern China. At midday on Friday, the sun was shining but the temperature was still minus 27 degrees Celsius; when night fell it would drop another 10 degrees.
Within 10 minutes, feet protected by thick boots and two layers of socks were frozen and numb. Yet here in the earthquake zone the locals stood around in thin running shoes stuffed with cotton, apparently indifferent.
'We are just used to the weather here. We don't feel it as you do,' explained Zhao Xinmin of Laolongbulao village. And he looked on with equanimity as his brother-in-law from nearby Zhangbei town, succumbing to gravity as a result of too much strong drink, slumped on to the frozen ground.
In the very best of times life in these highlands, almost 2,000 metres above sea level, is harsh, yet touring the earthquake-stricken villages on Friday left a growing sense that this disaster could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for an impoverished and much neglected corner of Hebei province.
At the best of times peasants eke a very poor living from this thin soil. It is one of the poorest corners of Hebei and yields at 80 kilograms per 700 square metres are a quarter of what they are in more prosperous parts of China. And with about one third of a hectare per family, there is not much land to go round either.
This is a harsh life even by the low standards of Hebei province and residents say that prior to 1978, it was unspeakably hard. Yet now that the worst is already behind them, the peasants are talking about the earthquake with stoicism and humorous enjoyment of their new celebrity status.