Hebei Bashang Shandianhe National Wetland Park

Hebei Bashang Shandianhe National Wetland Park

Hebei Bashang Shandianhe National Wetland Park is a national-level wetland park.

Shandianhe National Wetland Park is situated in the transitional zone between the Inner Mongolia Plateau and the North China Plain, serving as the source of the Luan River and the Chaobai River. It was named "the most beautiful wetland in Yan-Zhao" in 2008. The park spans 61,800 mu, including 45,000 mu of natural wetlands, and features rich biodiversity with 210 species of wetland plants and 222 species of animals, including 31 species under national key protection. It is a stopover on one of China’s three major migratory bird routes and one of the eight global migratory bird corridors—the East Asia–India Flyway.

The park centers around Grassland Lake and Shandian Lake as its core wetland areas, with the Shandian River and its surrounding wetlands as the main zones. It is divided into four functional areas: Grassland Lake Wetland Conservation Zone, Shandian River Wetland and Vegetation Restoration Zone, Shandian Lake Leisure and Entertainment Zone, and Shandian River Eastern Mountain Comprehensive Management Zone, as well as eight sub-areas including the Grassland Lake Bird Watching Area, Shandian River Rafting Area, and Shandian Lake Water Recreation Activity Area.

The Shandian River, historically known as the Rushui River, originates from the ancient Baga Tungutugur Mountain at the border of Guyuan and Fengning counties. It flows through forests and lakes, winding like a ribbon through Guyuan, around Lanqi, via Duolun, and through various regions of Chengde. It converges with the Xiao Luan River, Wulie River, Liu River, and Bao River, passes through the Great Wall at Xifengkou, and rushes down to the Bohai Sea, covering a total course of 877 kilometers.

For thousands of years, like a mother, it has nurtured the Bashang Grassland, bestowing upon it clear mountains and rivers, blue skies and white clouds, birdsong and floral fragrance, and robust livestock. Did you know that the beautiful and fertile Shandian River Basin held a pivotal position throughout centuries of Liao, Jin, and Yuan history? During the Liao Dynasty, it was called “Tanshan,” also known as “Liangxing”; in the Jin Dynasty, it was referred to as “Jinlianchuan.” In those times, “a hundred thousand mounted tribes drank from the Luan River, and the vast grasslands hid tigers and deer.” In 912, Emperor Taizu of Liao achieved a great victory over the Xi people and arrived at his summer palace by the Luan River in March, where he erected a stone to commemorate his triumph. After the Taizu’s death, his second son, Emperor Taizong Yelü Deguang, continued military campaigns while often residing in Liangxing to strategize—historical records document six such instances. Later, when Emperor Jingzong died young, his widow, Empress Dowager Xiao, assumed regency and ruled the Liao Empire. From then on, she launched large-scale offensives against the Song Dynasty to fulfill her ambition of annexing the Central Plains. Within the Shandian River Basin, Empress Dowager Xiao planned and commanded battles such as the “Battle of Gaoliang River” and the “Battle of Waqiao Pass.” Especially notable were the “Battle of Qigou Pass” and the “Battle of Feigukou.” When the Northern Song Dynasty, taking advantage of the recent deaths of Emperor Jingzong of Liao and the youth of Emperor Shengzong, mustered three armies in an attempt to reclaim the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, Empress Dowager Xiao personally led troops to engage in bloody battles with the Song forces in Yu County and Zhuozhou, capturing city after city. In July of the same year, General Xie Zhen trapped the renowned Song general Yang Ye in Langya Village, Shuozhou. “From then on, the Song defenders of Yun and Ying prefectures, upon hearing of Yang Ye’s death, all abandoned their cities and fled.”

Thereafter, for seventeen consecutive years from the ninth to the twenty-fifth year of the Tonghe era, Empress Dowager Xiao and Emperor Shengzong spent their summers and conducted imperial tours along the Shandian River, receiving tributes from vassal states and audiences with tribal leaders, as well as discussing and planning strategies for national stability. At a village site southeast of Erdaoqu Village in the Shandian River Basin, a large number of ceramic fragments and a Liao Dynasty “Taiping Tongbao” coin were unearthed. The “Liao History: Geography Treatise” records: “Tanshan, also called Xingtou, had a cool palace where Empress Xiao (posthumous title of Empress Dowager Xiao) came to escape the heat. Thirty li northeast of the mountain was the New Cool Palace, where Emperor Jingzong sought relief from the heat, with only a few pine shelters.” Thus, the Khitans left no well-preserved above-ground architecture for us. The so-called dressing tower of Empress Dowager Xiao is now confirmed to be an ancient tomb from the Yuan Dynasty. These beautiful legends can only be seen as the public's nostalgia for Empress Xiao. However, it has always been hot in summer, and a thousand years ago, Guyuan was indeed a fine place to escape the heat... That much is certain.

Scenic Area Address: 8 km east of Guyuan County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province

Transportation by Bus: Take a minibus or taxi from Guyuan County to Shandianhe Reservoir.

Self-Drive Route: Beijing-Zhangjiakou Expressway → Exit at Chicheng-Huailai → Chicheng → Xiaochang → Guyuan → 8 km east of the county town