Chagan Lake Nature Reserve

Chagan Lake Nature Reserve

The Chagan Lake Nature Reserve is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a national water conservancy scenic area.

The Chagan Lake National Nature Reserve is located in the northwest of our province, at the confluence of the terminal section of the Holin River and the Nenjiang River, covering a total area of 506.84 square kilometers. The main part lies within Qian Gorlos Mongol Autonomous County in Songyuan City, with portions also in Da’an City of Baicheng and Qian’an County in Songyuan. The reserve primarily protects the semi-arid region’s lake aquatic ecosystems, wetland ecosystems, and rare and endangered wild bird species.

In 1986, Chagan Lake was designated as a provincial-level nature reserve with the approval of the provincial government. Over the past 20 years, the flora and fauna within the reserve have become increasingly abundant. Just in terms of bird species, the count has risen from 117 in the past to the current 239. There are 43 species under national first- and second-class protection, especially international endangered species and national protected animals such as Oriental storks, white-naped cranes, Siberian cranes, red-crowned cranes, black storks, great bustards, golden eagles, white-tailed sea eagles, whooper swans, grey cranes, and Eurasian spoonbills. The variety and quantity of these species have shown a year-on-year increasing trend within the reserve, fully demonstrating the importance of the Chagan Lake Nature Reserve.

Historical Background

On August 2, 1986, the Jilin Provincial People’s Government (Document No. Ji Zheng Han [1986] 131) approved the establishment of the Jilin Chagan Lake Nature Reserve as a provincial-level nature reserve. The Jilin Chagan Lake Nature Reserve Administration was set up, led by the Qian Gorlos County Government and guided in operations by the Jilin Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau.

In 2004, the Jilin Provincial People’s Government approved the “Jilin Chagan Lake Provincial Nature Reserve Master Plan.”

On April 6, 2007, the State Council (State Office Document [2007] No. 20) officially approved the Chagan Lake Nature Reserve as a national-level nature reserve.

Natural Geography & Location

The reserve is located within the boundaries of Qian Gorlos Mongol Autonomous County, Qian’an County, and Da’an City in Jilin Province, spanning longitude 124°03′28″–124°30′59″ east and latitude 45°05′42″–45°25′50″ north.

Geology & Landform

The dominant geomorphological features of the reserve are low-lying terrain with gentle undulations, slightly higher in the southeast and southwest, and lower in the central and northeastern areas. The terrain around Chagan Lake’s Dongchuantou and Xichuantou, as well as Qingshan Tou, is relatively elevated, ranging from 140 to 160 meters. The area near Chagan Lake is low-lying, with remnants of secondary river terraces adjacent to the lake. Water levels vary among several larger lakes, and there are also sand dunes with relative heights not exceeding 5 meters. Based on their formation and morphological characteristics, the landforms in this area can be divided into alluvial-lacustrine plains and valley alluvial plains. The alluvial-lacustrine plains are found in the low-lying sections of the Chagan Lake area, while the valley alluvial plains are distributed along the valleys of the Holin River and the ancient course of the Nenjiang River.

(1) Alluvial-Lacustrine Plains

Most of the area consists of alluvial-lacustrine plains, with ground elevations generally ranging from 129 to 140 meters, and locally between 140 and 160 meters. Gently undulating hills are distributed in the southern and northern parts, covering a relatively large area, with surface lithology consisting of loess-like loam from the Upper Pleistocene Guxiangtun Formation of the Quaternary System. Around Chagan Lake, these often appear as eroded hills. Slightly inclined flatlands are found in the western and southern regions, with surface lithology also comprising loess-like loam from the Upper Pleistocene Guxiangtun Formation. Lacustrine and marsh lowlands are located around the lakes, exhibiting a grassland landscape, with surface lithology being Holocene lacustrine-marsh accumulation loam, where salinization is relatively developed.

(2) Valley Alluvial Plains

These are distributed in the western valleys of the Holin River and the Nenjiang River (Kulipao), with ground elevations between 127 and 132 meters. They feature first-level terraces and floodplains, while the Chagan Lake area consists of lacustrine-marsh lowlands. The surface lithology includes Holocene alluvial loam, clay, and marshy muddy sediments.