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 administ ...

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 ...

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, and ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, 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 ...

(1654-1722) set the Mulan Paddock () in the area. In 1863, the Qing government 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 waters, anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in t ...

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 sandstorms plague

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

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 popu ...

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 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 branch ...

. 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 pr ...

. 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 ...

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 throughou ...

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 ...

s cultivated in the park, including

Eleutherococcus gracilistylus ''Eleutherococcus gracilistylus'', also known as ''Acanthopanax gracilistylus'', is deciduous plant with dark blue berries. It is considered a medicinal herb with significant effects. A widely used Chinese plant, it is in the family Araliaceae, a ...

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 proteinog ...

, 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'' - Tajikis ...

. 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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saihanba Parks in Hebei Chengde AAAAA-rated tourist attractions Forest parks in China