Saihanba National Forest Park () is a national forest park located in
Weichang Manchu and Mongol Autonomous County
Weichang Manchu and Mongol Autonomous County (; Manchu: ; Mölendroff: weicang manju monggo beye dasangga siyan; Mongolian: ) is a Manchu and Mongol autonomous county located in far northeastern Hebei province, China. It lies under the administra ...
,
Chengde
Chengde, formerly known as Jehol and Rehe, is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, situated about 225 km northeast of Beijing. It is best known as the site of the Mountain Resort, a vast imperial garden and palace formerly used by t ...
,
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, with
Inner Mongolian Plateau standing in the northwest, covering an area of . Established in 1962, this is a multifunctional botanical park integrating scientific research, plant species collection and display as well as tourism. Saihanba is often called "the Green Lung of north China".
History
In the
Liao (907-1125) and
Jin dynasties (1115-1234), Saihanba was a hunting-field for the imperial household.
In 1681,
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...
(1654-1722) set the Mulan Paddock () in the area.
In 1863, the
Qing government
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
allows farmers to reclaim land here,
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s and
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
s were beginning to disappear. Saihanba became a barren
desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
. Then
sandstorm
A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transporte ...
s plague
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
and other
northern China
Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climate ...
cities.
In 1962, in order to put an end to the sandstorms, the
State Forestry Administration
The State Forestry and Grassland Administration () is an administration of the People's Republic of China, in charge of the national forestry affairs. It was founded in 1949 as Ministry of Forestry and Farming. On November 5, 1951, it changed to ...
set the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm here. Then the first generation of tree-planters came here, they tried to green the barren desert and turn it into an
oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
.
In May 1993, it was designated as a "National Forest Park".
In 2000, it has been categorized as a
5A level tourist site by the
China National Tourism Administration
The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA; ) was a Chinese government authority responsible for the development of tourism in the country. The CNTA was subordinate to the State Council. Its headquarters are in Beijing, with regional branche ...
.
In May 2007, the park was rated as a "National Nature Reserves" by the
State Council of China
The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...
.
On December 5, 2017, the Saihanba Afforestation Community won the honor of
Champions of the Earth
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established Champions of the Earth in 2005 as an annual awards programme to recognize outstanding environmental leaders from the public and private sectors, and from civil society.
Award details
T ...
in the category of Inspiration and Action due to its efforts to transform degraded land into a lush paradise, the highest environmental honor provided by the
United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...
.
Geography
Climate
The Saihanba National Forest Park is in the cold temperate monsoon climate zone, with an average annual temperature of , the
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
season in Saihanba lasts for about 7 months each year. The earliest recorded snowfall has been in August, and the latest in June.
Natural history
There are more than 618 species and 312 genera
vascular plant
Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...
s cultivated in the park, including
Eleutherococcus gracilistylus,
Astragalus propinquus
''Astragalus propinquus'' (syn. ''Astragalus membranaceus'', commonly known as Mongolian milkvetch in English; 'Хунчир' in Mongolian; ''huáng qí'' (), ''běi qí'' () or ''huáng huā huáng qí'' (), in Mongolia, is a flowering plant i ...
,
Glycine
Glycine (symbol Gly or G; ) is an amino acid that has a single hydrogen atom as its side chain. It is the simplest stable amino acid (carbamic acid is unstable), with the chemical formula NH2‐ CH2‐ COOH. Glycine is one of the proteinogeni ...
, and
Agropyron
''Agropyron'' is a genus of Eurasian plants in the grass family), native to Europe and Asia but widely naturalized in North America.
Species in the genus are commonly referred to as wheatgrass.
; Species
* ''Agropyron badamense'' - Tajikistan, ...
.
Within the boundaries of the park, the following number of species are known to live: 261 species of mammals, 39 species of birds, 32 species of fish, and about 660 species of insects.
Attractions
* Qixing Lake ()
* Taifeng Lake ()
* Saihan Tower ()
* Headwater of Luan River ()
* Moon Lake ()
* Yudaokou Grassland and Forest Scenic Spot ()
* Hongsongwa National Nature Reserves ()
Transportation
*
Siheyong railway station ()
Gallery
See also
*
List of protected areas of China
This is a list of the nationally-designated protected areas of China. There are many forms of protected areas in China. Based on their relative importance, each type of protected area can be further graded into two to three levels (national, prov ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saihanba
Parks in Hebei
Chengde
AAAAA-rated tourist attractions
Forest parks in China