Why the Greater Khingan Range Matters So Much to China
The Greater Khingan Range is the starting point of northern China.
It meanders southward, connecting with the Taihang Mountains and Xuefeng Mountains, forming a line that divides the plateau and plains of the Chinese mainland.
From above, the Greater Khingan resembles an outstretched dragon: the mountains form its resilient skeleton; the rivers weave into dense blood vessels; the forests create its lush flesh and emerald scales; civilization has forged its soul of pioneering courage.
Countless facets determine the dynamic and diverse appearance of the Greater Khingan.
It is the backbone of Northeast China. Rising in the northern region, it shapes the contours of the Northeast Plain, the Inner Mongolia Plateau, and the Hulunbuir Plateau, closely linking Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning. It is the "supporting mountain" for the brave and bold people of the Northeast.
It is a natural reservoir. Rivers such as the Argun, Heilongjiang, Songhua, and Nenjiang converge through this mountain range, nurturing world-class grasslands and fertile black soil. For the people of Northeast China and Inner Mongolia, the Greater Khingan not only sustains the lifelines of industry, agriculture, animal husbandry, and fishing but also serves as a vital source of food and drinking water.
A meandering river in the Arxan area.
It is China’s green lung. This forest, covering less than 3% of the country’s land area, undertakes one-third of China’s carbon sink responsibilities. It is a cornerstone for achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality.
A vast sea of forests blanketed in white snow.
It is a divide of civilizations. Nomadic and agrarian cultures collide and blend on its two sides, creating the peak legends of dynasties such as the Northern Wei, Liao, Jin, and Qing, writing half of China’s history.
Ethnic minorities galloping across the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.
The Greater Khingan is not only the green mountains and clear waters that protect Northeast China but also the invaluable natural assets bestowed upon the nation. So, who created this miraculous landscape?
The story of the Greater Khingan began with an ocean. Hundreds of millions of years ago, orogeny brought land and sea together, after which the sea retreated eastward. The collision and merging of tectonic plates formed the prototype of the Greater Khingan.
Frequent tectonic movements smoothed its once rugged appearance, making it lower and gentler. The highest peak in the south, Huanggangliang, stands at 2,029 meters, and only a few peaks in the entire region exceed 1,500 meters in elevation.
Although this "dragon" is neither steep nor majestic, it rose early on the Chinese land, shaping the northeastern contours.
Viewed from the air, this massive mountain range stretches across approximately 330,000 square kilometers—equivalent to twice the size of Henan Province. Starting from the source of the Heilongjiang River, the Greater Khingan extends over 1,400 kilometers, ending at the north bank of the Xar Moron River, reaching as far as Chifeng. The section within Inner Mongolia is more than twice the length of that in Heilongjiang.
The Greater Khingan spans Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia, with Inner Mongolia being its "main stage."
Map by Sun Lu, Design by Jiuyang
After the mountains formed, nature continued to exert its forces. Scorching lava and piercing glaciers left marks on the range, creating many stunning natural landscapes.
Over hundreds of millions of years, frequent and complex crustal movements exerted their power near the ridges, forming, from north to south, the round and spectacular Nuomin River Volcanic Group, Chaihe Volcanic Group, Arxan Volcanic Group, and Dalinor Volcanic Group.
The Arxan Volcano Group ranks first in Asia and second in the world in terms of area.
For over 2,000 years, magma beneath the volcano group has been active and eager to erupt. In other words, most of the volcanic clusters in the Greater Khingan Range are among the few active volcanoes in China.
These volcanic groups, harboring immense energy, have shaped China's most suitable volcanic relics for observation and appreciation. Among them, the Arxan Volcano Group, located in the central part of the Greater Khingan Range, stands out as the best, dominating Asia with its vast and magnificent volcanic remnants.
Most of the volcanic clusters in the Greater Khingan Range are distributed near the mountain ridges.
Mapping/Sun Lu, Design/Jiuyang
In the area from Daheigou to Motianling in Arxan, high-viscosity lava erupted, slowly cooled, and solidified into dome-shaped mounds, creating China's only lava domes.
Volcanic relics formed after the cooling of lava.
Not far away, the lava carved diverse lava landforms, such as lava ropes, lava discs, lava caves, lava collapse valleys, and underground rivers. With rocks as the foundation, spectacular scenery abounds, hence the name "Shitanglin" (Stone Forest). It is said that the legendary Lingzhi mushroom and immortal toad, kicked down by Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West" during his quarrel with the Queen Mother, fell into this vast stone forest.
Rainwater and melting snow continuously flow into the volcanic craters, forming crater lakes.
In addition to the extraordinary traces carved by volcanoes, glaciers have also left magnificent masterpieces in the Greater Khingan Range.
This mountain range was once covered by thick Quaternary glaciers, with large ice masses forming ice sheets. The ice sheets slowly advanced, moving from the mountains to the eastern plains. Beneath the ice sheets, meltwater carried rock blocks from the valley sides forward, constantly impacting the surrounding rocks and forming depressions in low-lying areas, known as rock mills.
Photography/Jianwang's Travel Photography, Image/Adobe Stock
The Qingshan Rock Mill Scenic Area, located on the southeastern edge of the Greater Khingan Range, is China's only world geological park dominated by rock mills and granite peak forest landscapes, boasting the world's largest and most diverse rock mill group.
In addition to its unique landforms, magma and complex tectonic movements have also formed rich mineral resources underground.
The power of the earth has enriched the "inner wealth" of the Greater Khingan Range, making it one of China's most important metallogenic belts. These minerals mark the active zones of magma and groundwater like coordinates, spread almost throughout the Greater Khingan Range. In the Heilongjiang region alone, there are 611 mineral sites. This land, which accounts for only 3% of China's area, contains 25% of the country's mineral types.
The Zhalainuoer Open-Pit Mine, with billowing smoke and roaring trains.
From ancient times to the present, the Greater Khingan Range has contributed precious metals, non-ferrous metals, and coal to China. Gold is particularly renowned. Heilongjiang has been called the "Gold-Trimmed Border" since ancient times. During the Qing Dynasty, the annual gold production in the Greater Khingan Range reached up to 100,000 taels. The relay stations established for gold mining extended westward along the left bank of the upper Heilongjiang River to the banks of the Argun River, paving the way for the northern gold route.
The Zhalainuoer Open-Pit Mine from the steam engine era is now completely abandoned.
Returning to the mountains themselves, orogenic movements hundreds of millions of years ago also formed numerous fold belts and fracture zones. Surface water converged and gathered in these areas, creating the rich water systems inside and outside the Greater Khingan Range and China's rare wetland resources, making this mountain forest an indispensable natural reservoir for China.
More than 500 meandering rivers flow through the Greater Khingan Range. Large and small rivers, like interwoven blood vessels, depend on the mountain's skeleton. The Greater Khingan Range acts as a barrier, preventing the rivers within from reaching the sea; they can only flow into lakes and other rivers. Frozen snow and summer precipitation cause these rivers to experience spring and summer floods, with obvious alternating periods of abundance and scarcity.
Known as the "Number One Meandering River in the World," the Morigele River.
Photo/ Lao Shanhuo, Image/ Tuchong Creativity
Some rivers extend beyond the mountains, forming the Heilongjiang River system, the Inner Mongolia flow region, and the Liaohe River system.
The water systems on the eastern slope, such as the Nanweng River, Kuile River, Tao'er River, and Guiliu River, flow eastward, supplying ample water to the Northeast China Plain. Meanwhile, the rivers on the western slope, including the Aoluguya River, Moerdaoga River, and Genhe River, converge into the Ergun River system and the Hailar River system, nourishing the lush grasslands of the Hulunbuir Plateau and the Inner Mongolia Plateau.
The Halaha Unfrozen River, formed by geothermal activity.
It is worth noting that the average annual rainfall in the Inner Mongolia grasslands is below 300 mm, while the evaporation exceeds 2000 mm. This means that the grassland's water resources almost entirely come from the rivers flowing out of the Greater Khingan Mountains.
The Xar Moron River nurtured the Hongshan Culture and is hailed by historians as the "Grandmother River."
However, some water bodies do not form rivers but accumulate in the land, contributing extremely valuable wetland resources to the Greater Khingan Mountains and even China. Millions of years ago, as the Songliao Divide uplifted, the river courses of the Northeast water systems began to change. Due to obstructed diversions, the water systems formed extensive wetlands in the mountains and plains.
The Nanweng River National Nature Reserve preserves a pristine forest wetland ecosystem.
Among the 64 wetlands in China listed in the "List of Internationally Important Wetlands," approximately 10% are nourished by the Greater Khingan Mountains. These wetlands cover an area as large as 8% of the Northeast's land area, which is extremely rare in China.
Additionally, the Greater Khingan Mountains are located in a high-latitude region, where the cold climate has fostered extensive permafrost. The wetland types formed on this basis are unique to China and rare worldwide.
The northern part of the Greater Khingan Mountains develops
permafrost and island talik permafrost, which are extremely rare in China.
Map/ Sun Lu, Design/ Jiuyang
Such abundant water sources lay the foundation for the proliferation of life in the Greater Khingan Mountains.
The "Medicine Chest" of the North, the "Zoo" of Northeast China
This high-latitude mountain range is home to over 400 species of rare animals, such as the reindeer (known as the "ship of the forest"), moose, snowshoe hare, sable, and hazel grouse (also called flying dragon), as well as about 1,800 species of rare wild plants. Due to the unique climatic conditions, the wild blueberries (locally called doushi) produced in the Greater Khingan Mountains are of world-class quality.
"Magical Creatures" in the Greater Khingan Mountains: Reindeer, Sable, and Baer's Pochard.
Fig. 1 Photo/ Qiu Huining, Fig. 2 & 3/ Visual China Group
Due to its rich resources of wild medicinal plants, the Greater Khingan Mountains are also known as China's natural cold-temperature medicinal repository, producing over 600 species of medicinal plants such as astragalus, atractylodes, red peony, and gentian.
The energy flow and material cycle within the forest itself maintain and optimize the ecological environment of the Greater Khingan Range. In 2015, the Hanma National Nature Reserve in the northern part of the Greater Khingan Range was designated as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. In May 2021, the critically endangered species Baer's Pochard, which has extremely high demands on migratory and habitat environments, was also observed in the Greater Khingan Range.
Rare medicinal herbs in the Greater Khingan Range: Astragalus, Red Peony, and Gentian.
Fig. 1, Fig. 3/Figureworm · Creative, Fig. 2/VCG
What kind of environment do these rare animals and plants rely on? The forest is the answer.
The forest is the soul of the Greater Khingan Range. One of China's last undisturbed primeval forest landscapes is located at the northern tip of Inner Mongolia. Forests cover about 74% of the land in the Greater Khingan Range, an area larger than Hunan Province.
The highly forested Greater Khingan Range.
The vast forest area and forest stock determine the extremely important role of the Greater Khingan Range in China's terrestrial ecosystem and forest carbon sink. Currently, the forest carbon sink of the Greater Khingan Range is approximately 2.6 billion tons, accounting for one-third of China's total forest carbon sink, undertaking a critically important mission as both a carbon source and carbon sink.
The dense and lush coniferous forests of the Greater Khingan Range.
Photo/Laoshanhuo, Image/Figureworm · Creative
The carbon sequestration capacity of the natural marsh wetlands in the Greater Khingan Range should not be underestimated, as their carbon storage even exceeds that of the cold-temperate forests. The carbon sequestration capacity of Alnus sibirica in the marshes alone is higher than the national and global averages, while shrub marshes and birch marshes approach the global average.
However, even within a single forest, multiple ecosystems exist.
The Greater Khingan Range is divided into distinctly different northern and southern sections by the Tao'er River: the southern section belongs to the East Asian temperate broadleaf forest zone, while the northern section is part of the Eurasian cold-temperate coniferous forest belt. Only the Greater Khingan Range and the Altai Mountains in China have cold-temperate coniferous forests, with the Greater Khingan Range having the most complete and largest area of such forests.
The cold-temperate coniferous forests in the Greater Khingan Range.
Additionally, the mountain range separates two typical vegetation zones from east to west. The eastern side features temperate summer-green broadleaf forests, while the western side is part of the vast Eurasian steppe belt. The transition zone from the western foothills of the Greater Khingan Range to the Hulunbuir grassland preserves China's most complete and well-preserved forest-grassland ecotone.
The intertwining of grassland and forest in Inner Mongolia during autumn.
Under the influence of climate, this predominantly forested mountain range has given rise to a diverse ecological environment, making it one of China's most important ecological barriers.
The Xing'an Rhododendron, classified as a nationally protected second-grade wild plant.
In summer, warm and moist air currents from the Pacific Ocean move northward to the Greater Khingan Range, where they condense and form rainfall as they ascend the mountains, leaving the last of their moisture in the Northeast Plain east of the range, creating one of the world's most fertile agricultural regions. In winter, cold air from Mongolia and Siberia moves southward, and as it crosses the Greater Khingan Range, it turns the water vapor transpired by the forests into knee-deep snow.
As the mountain range marking the starting point of China's second and third topographic steps, the Greater Khingan Range exhausts the strength of the summer monsoon penetrating inland, demarcating the monsoon and non-monsoon zones. From east to west, influenced by monsoon precipitation, the climate transitions from humid to arid, and the vegetation changes from forest to grassland and desert.
The Greater Khingan Range is the starting point of China's second and third topographic steps.
Cartography/Sun Lu, Design/Jiuyang
Within China, the 400 mm annual precipitation isohyet, the boundary between semi-humid and semi-arid zones, and the division between pastoral and farming areas all start from the Greater Khingan Range, winding southward along the mountain range. Unstable monsoons have made the Greater Khingan Range an ecological zone where agriculture and pastoralism intertwine.
Within the Greater Khingan Range, its secluded geographical location and complex ecological environment have nurtured a long-standing ancient civilization, as well as the agricultural and nomadic cultures that have shaped Chinese history.
The Cradle of Ancient Civilization, The Divide Between Two Cultures
The Greater Khingan Range is one of the most underestimated cradles of civilization. Looking northwest, regions like Xinjiang and the Hexi Corridor in China have preserved ancient relics intact due to their arid climate, and numerous archaeological discoveries have made the history of the northwest widely known. In contrast, although the Greater Khingan Range in the northeastern corner nurtured historically significant northern ethnic groups in Chinese history, it remains largely unexplored.
As early as the Paleolithic Age over 10,000 years ago, ancient ethnic groups in the northeast thrived here. By 7,000 to 5,000 years ago, an advanced microlithic culture had already emerged here. Today, Paleolithic artifacts unearthed from sites like the Huma Shibazhan and Tahe Laotanghe in the northern part of the Greater Khingan Range, as well as microliths from the burial groups at the Hake site in the central part, still retain the glorious marks of that civilization.
The Hake site is a settlement relic of the primitive society in northern China.
Photography/Laoshanhuo, Image/Tuchong Creativity
The 44 hidden rock paintings in the Greater Khingan Range (29 in Heilongjiang and 15 in Inner Mongolia, with over 3,000 individual paintings) are closely linked to the derivation of ancient northeastern ethnic groups. These ochre-painted rock art depict scenes such as group hunting, worship of deities, animism, and the shamanic three realms.
The Jiaolaohdao rock paintings are located among the cliffs along the right tributary of the upper Heilongjiang River.
The Jiao'aniangni rock paintings are situated on the cliffs along the right tributary of the Argun River.
In recent years, some scholars have identified the "S"-shaped serpentine deer-antler dragon pattern from the Greater Khingan Range rock paintings in Pacific Rim rock art. This may serve as evidence of the migration of ancient Northeast Asian humans across the Bering Land Bridge to the American continent.
The ancient civilization born in the primeval forests has also inspired various fantastical imaginations. The Greater Khingan Range is not only the location of the Qing Dynasty's dragon vein and treasure in "The Deer and the Cauldron," but also the entrance to the netherworld cave in "Ghost Blows Out the Light," and even connects with science fiction, serving as the base for the Red Coast in "The Three-Body Problem" in the search for extraterrestrial civilizations.
Beyond nurturing and spreading ancient civilization, the Greater Khingan Range, as the starting point of natural and cultural boundaries, also functioned as a "Great Wall."
Due to its strategic location and rugged terrain, the Greater Khingan Range was once a military stronghold. The renowned economist Wang Luolin once said, "The Ming fell in the northeast, the Qing declined in the northeast, the Republic of China was defeated in the northeast... Occupying the northeast, the People's Republic of China was established." The Greater Khingan Range is an indispensable part of China's territory.
Moreover, the legend of the Greater Khingan Range lies in the fact that the Tuoba Xianbei, who unified northern China, the Khitan who established the Liao Dynasty, the Jin who overthrew the Northern Song, Genghis Khan who campaigned across Eurasia, and the Jurchen who founded the Qing Empire all originated here. The Evenki, Oroqen, and Daur peoples, who remained in the Greater Khingan Range, have also created a unique forest culture.
Evenki people and reindeer in Genhe.
However, ethnic minorities such as the Xiongnu and Turks, who rose from the northwest or due north, found it difficult to achieve similar accomplishments.
This is because the rise of the Greater Khingan Range gave birth to the Songnen Plain, the Liaohe Plain, and the Horqin Grassland on its eastern side, while fostering the Hulunbuir Plateau and the Inner Mongolia Plateau on its western side.
Mongolians nomadic herding on the grassland.
The opposition and complementarity between plains and plateaus, coupled with climate change, not only created the fertile land of Northeast China suitable for biological reproduction but also shaped the two colliding and integrating civilizations of nomadic and agricultural. The rich landforms and water sources allowed the ethnic groups living here to engage in nomadic pastoralism, fishing, hunting, and farming.
Northern ethnic groups embarking on a "new journey."
The Xiongnu and Turkic peoples lacked farming experience and could only develop westward into the Eurasian grassland zone. Because of this, the Greater Khingan Mountains became a cradle of countless legends.
Today, the glory of the Northern Wei Dynasty has turned into history books and relics, and the Evenki people, who once galloped through the forests, have laid down their hunting rifles. So, where will the next legend of the Greater Khingan Mountains emerge?
The Greater Khingan Mountains nurture fertile black soil.
In 2020, the song "Mohe Dance Hall" touched countless hearts and also reminded people of the Greater Khingan Mountains—a region with numerous achievements now undergoing transformation.
Since 2014, a complete logging ban has been implemented in the Greater Khingan Mountains, ending half a century of large-scale forestry development. The mountains and forests have returned to nature, and people's lifestyles have changed accordingly. Some chose to leave the mountains and integrate into the wave of urbanization, while others opted to stay, seeking a livelihood that nurtures both people and the mountains.
Towns in the Greater Khingan Mountains embracing transformation.
Showcasing the beauty of this green giant to the world is one such path.
The Greater Khingan Mountains are beautiful in all seasons, but the harsh ice and snow of winter give this mountain forest a unique charm. The people of the Greater Khingan Mountains are passionate and sincere, actively showcasing its myriad facets to the outside world.
The passionate and sincere "people of the Greater Khingan Mountains."
It can embody the idyllic imagery of living among rocks and rivers, presenting a dreamlike realm and becoming the most desired residence for those seeking solitude.
It can also offer mountain delicacies and river freshes, preserve the ethnic culture of Northeast China, and retain the warmth and vitality between tents and heated beds.
Though the mountains and forests are silent, their people continue to write legends.
An Evenki girl wearing reindeer leather clothing.
Through the perseverance of the people of the Greater Khingan Mountains, this green giant is being reborn with a primitive yet vibrant force. It lies in the northern realm, guarding China and bestowing gifts upon all.
Cover & header image photography | Yang Xiao
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