Greater Khingan Mountains

Greater Khingan Mountains

Beautiful, rich, simple, and natural — the Heilongjiang Greater Khingan Mountains forest region is an unpolluted paradise located at China’s northernmost frontier. To the east, it connects with the thousand-mile-long Lesser Khingan Mountains; to the west, it borders the Hulunbuir Grassland; to the south, it extends to the fertile and prosperous Songnen Plain; and to the north, it faces the Russian Federation across the river. The area features undulating mountains and vast forests, embodying a rugged and majestic beauty that spans an expansive 80,000 square miles.

The Greater Khingan Mountains is China’s northernmost and largest modern state-owned forest region, covering a total area of 84,600 square kilometers — equivalent to the size of one Austria or 137 Singapores. Its timber volume amounts to 501 million cubic meters, accounting for 7.8% of the national total. With a total area of 84,600 square kilometers, a population of 510,000, and a border line stretching 791.5 kilometers, it administers three counties (Tahe, Mohe, and Huma), four districts (Jiagedaqi, Songling, Xinlin, and Huzhong), and ten forestry bureaus.

The towering Greater Khingan Mountains are covered in lush green forests. Spanning 7.3 million hectares, the forested area has a coverage rate of 74.1%. Within this vast expanse of green, over 400 species of rare wildlife thrive, including cold-temperate deer, reindeer, moose (known locally as "Ardahan"), sika deer, brown bears, sables, hazel grouse, pheasants, capercaillies, swans, roe deer, roe, wild boars, and snow hares. There are also more than 1,000 species of wild plants, making it a rare haven for flora and fauna in China’s high-latitude regions. More than twenty rivers of varying sizes — including the Gan River, Durbuk River, Nada River, Huma River, and Ermu River — meander through the mountains and valleys before eventually flowing into the Heilongjiang River, the mother river of the borderland people. The region is abundant in precious cold-water fish such as sturgeon, hucho taimen, lenok, and Amur icefish. It’s no exaggeration to describe its wildlife resources as so plentiful that “you can beat a roe deer with a stick, scoop fish with a ladle, and have pheasants fly right into your cooking pot.”