Crouching Tiger Mountain

Crouching Tiger Mountain

Crouching Tiger Mountain is located in the southwest of the volcanic group. Its cone is composed of rocks and lava made up of black and reddish-brown pumice, volcanic fragments, and other materials, varying irregularly in size and resembling a fierce tiger lying on the ground.

Due to its ancient eruption and intense weathering, it looks almost entirely different from its original form. Only the westernmost crater can still be faintly seen, while the other three only retain vague traces of their former shapes.

Known locally as "Longevity Mountain," Crouching Tiger Mountain erupted 1.053–1.416 million years ago, making it the second oldest among the fourteen stratovolcanoes after Mount Glagou. It has the largest base area and the most craters among these volcanoes, classifying it as a “compound volcano” formed by multiple eruptions. With an elevation of 496.11 meters, it features four craters arranged in a circular chair-like formation, with flat bottoms. The northwest side has a magma overflow vent, and the craters have diameters of 300–350 meters and depths of 20–30 meters. There are a total of 29 layers of lava.

Crouching Tiger Mountain is a volcano that erupted over 1.4 million years ago and is now an ecological amusement park covering an area of 4.5 square kilometers.

Here, visitors can explore over twenty attractions including a wildlife observation park, the Daur Mountain Loop Running Field, the Manchu Eight Banners Hunting Ground, a sika deer park, a grass-skiing field, the Volcano Medicine Garden, the Bee Valley, and the Crouching Tiger Mountain Village. The Crouching Tiger Mountain grass-skiing and skiing area features two beginner ski runs and one intermediate recreational ski run. Visitors can use snowboards or skis to glide down from the valleys between mountain ridges. The slope has gentle turns and appropriate gradients, making it a paradise for beginners and children.

Crouching Tiger Mountain has a long history and is considered a place where dragons and tigers lie hidden. To this day, remnants of the old Qing army campsite remain. In 1720, a volcanic eruption turned the site into a base camp for measuring volcanoes.

Crouching Tiger Mountain is also a feng shui treasure land. The nearby Tuanjie Township area has produced 106 first-class guards and officers of deputy provincial rank or higher over the past 300 years, earning it the name “Generals’ Village.” The hometown of Wanrong, the last empress of China, is located here. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, it served as a supply station for the Anti-Japanese United Army. The graves of war heroes are preserved here to this day, making it a site of historical significance for red tourism.

In Wudalianchi, sika deer are regarded as sacred animals. There is an ancient legend about them. It is said that during the Dragon Boat Festival in ancient times, a young Daur hunter named Batu Morigen went hunting at the foot of Yaoquan Mountain. He shot and injured a sika deer with an arrow. The wounded deer ran along Erlong Spring toward a pool of water. The hunter followed closely and saw the deer leap into the water, where its wound quickly healed before it vanished swiftly into the forest. Amazed, the hunter took a sip of the water and found it spicy and cool, instantly relieving his fatigue. The pool was bubbling as if boiling, yet felt icy cold to the touch. The hunter, who had always revered the divine, immediately understood that the sacred deer had guided him to medicinal springs. He knelt down to worship and called the water “holy,” piling up stones as a marker.

When he returned home, he led his people to drink and bathe in the water. Those with wounds were healed quickly, and those suffering from stomach pain or back and leg pain experienced remarkable relief.

The shaman told everyone that this was a sign from the “Goddess of Sacred Water.”

Soon, the story spread to the nearby Manchu, Mongolian, Ewenki, and Oroqen peoples. From then on, this day was designated as the “Medicine God Day.” Every year during this season, people gather at the medicinal springs for the “Medicine Spring Gathering” and the “Sacred Water Festival.” The bubbling spring beneath the stone tablet is believed to be the spot where the sacred deer revealed the water, and it remains a revered holy site—the “Ancient Sacred Spring of the North Sea Eye”—worshipped by various ethnic groups for thousands of years.