Duolun Luanhe River Source

Duolun Luanhe River Source

Duolun Luanhe River Source is a national water conservancy scenic area and a national wetland park.

This is a mysterious world of the grasslands beyond the Great Wall, a pristine painting of forest and steppe meticulously crafted by nature and humanity, a fairyland on earth that combines mountain springs, streams, sandy land, grasslands, and natural elm forests. This is — the Inner Mongolia Luanhe River Source National Forest Park.

The Inner Mongolia Luanhe River Source National Forest Park is situated in the forest-steppe zone of a semi-arid region, located within the Sandao Gou Forest Farm in Duolun County, Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia. It lies 35 kilometers southeast of Duolun County and covers a total area of 190,000 mu.

The Luanhe River Source National Forest Park is located in the upper reaches of the Luanhe River, in the low mountainous and hilly area at the southern edge of the Inner Mongolia Plateau. Over hundreds of millions of years of crustal movement and river erosion, the area has developed an orderly distribution of high platforms, sand dunes, and river basins, forming a semi-circular basin landform and vast elm landscapes. The forest coverage rate of the Luanhe River Source National Forest Park is 59%, with diverse vegetation types. Among them, the 30,000-mu elm forest is like a crystal-clear emerald inlaid on the golden sands of the southern edge of the Inner Mongolia Plateau. In summer, these natural elm forests are lush and vibrant, while in winter and spring, they stand firmly against the wind and snow, resembling resilient guardians of the ecosystem near the northern frontier close to Beijing. To this day, they remain in their primitive state, stretching for dozens of miles. They are among the largest, oldest, and best-preserved natural elm forests discovered so far in China and even Asia.

The Luanhe River Source National Forest Park boasts a rich variety of plant species and high biodiversity. To date, 502 species of vascular plants have been recorded, belonging to 256 genera and 77 families. Among them, there are 497 species of wild vascular plants from 255 genera and 77 families, accounting for 58.8%, 38.6%, and 22.1% of Inner Mongolia’s wild vascular plants, respectively. Among the 77 plant families, those with more than 30 species include Asteraceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae, and Rosaceae, which together comprise 198 species.

The park is also home to over a hundred species of wild animals. Nationally protected species include the great bustard and Mongolian wild ass (both Class I), as well as 22 Class II protected species such as the Mongolian gazelle and the whooper swan. Animals frequently spotted in the park include hares, roe deer, sand foxes, pheasants, and swans.