Keshiketeng Global Geopark

　　Inner Mongolia’s Keshiketeng Global Geopark is situated in Keshiketeng Banner, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, spanning 1,343 square kilometers. It is primarily known for its Quaternary glacial pothole clusters, granite rock forest landforms, and geological structures. The park features ten types of geological and geomorphological landscapes, including glacial landforms, granite landforms, volcanic landforms, spring landforms, canyon landforms, lake landscapes, river landscapes, wetland landscapes, typical ore deposits and mining relic landscapes, and sandy land landscapes.

　　In addition to its rich and precious geological relics, the geopark also boasts natural attractions such as the Gongger Grassland, the primeval forests of the Greater Khingan Mountains, and the world’s narrowest river—the Haolai River. It also contains historical and cultural sites like the Baichachuan Petroglyphs, the Jin Dynasty Great Wall (Jinjiabao), and the Wulan Butong Ancient Battlefield.

　　The river systems within Inner Mongolia’s Keshiketeng Global Geopark are divided into two types based on terrain and flow direction: exorheic and endorheic systems. The exorheic systems include the Xar Moron River system and the Luan River system; the endorheic systems consist of inland rivers and lakes, with approximately 60 natural lakes covering a water area of 420,000 mu, mostly distributed in the western high plains and the Hunshandake Desert area in the southwest.

　　Groundwater, depending on its occurrence conditions, can be classified into four types: pore water in loose sedimentary layers, pore-fracture water in clastic rocks, fracture-karst water in carbonate rocks, and fracture water in bedrock.

　　There is one hot spring area in the region, located in Rehotang Town, about 30 kilometers northeast of Jingpeng Town. Based on its occurrence conditions, it can be divided into two types: medium-to-high temperature hot water in granite structural fractures and low-temperature hot water in Quaternary gravel pore spaces.

　　Keshiketeng Global Geopark lies at the junction of three major landforms: the Greater Khingan Mountains, the Yanshan Mountains, and the Hunshandake Sandy Area.

　　Keshiketeng Global Geopark is a comprehensive global geopark composed of Quaternary glacial relics, granite landforms, platform-trough structural sutures, plateau lakes, rivers, volcanic landforms, deserts, grasslands, hot springs, and plateau wetlands.

　　On Beidashan Mountain, a branch of the Greater Khingan Mountains, there are unique granite landform landscapes. The granite rock forest group features diverse shapes and densely developed horizontal and vertical joints. The development of horizontal joints helps release internal stress within the rock mass, preventing rock collapse caused by intersecting joints under gravity, while also significantly reducing frost wedging. Differently spaced vertical joints divide the rock mass into blocks with varying resistance to weathering, eventually forming the granite rock forest.

　　The Darinuoer Volcanic Group landform is one of the nine major volcanoes in Northeast China. The volcanic cones vary in shape and are referred to as a “miniature landscape of the Wudalianchi Volcanoes.” The geopark also includes hot springs, deserts, grasslands, lakes, rivers, high mountain canyons, as well as granite intrusions and mineral resources from the Greater Khingan Mountains and Yanshan Mountains. Additionally, prehistoric human activity relics can be found in the geopark, with multiple preserved prehistoric human remains.

　　Source: Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Tourism Administration