Arxan (Aershan)
Arxan National Forest Park And Geopark, Known For Volcanic Crater Lakes, Hot Springs And Its 1937 Wooden Railway Station · Arxan, Inner Mongolia
A volcanic forest region in the far northeast of Inner Mongolia, tucked against the Mongolian border in the Greater Khingan range, where crater lakes, lava fields, hot springs and larch forests make an unexpectedly varied landscape. The name comes from the Mongolian for holy hot water, after the mineral springs that draw bathers to the spa town, and the whole area sits on a young volcanic field: Tianchi, a round crater lake reached by a stairway through the forest, lies at over 1,300 metres with no visible inlet or outlet, while the Stone River is a vast frozen-looking flow of black lava boulders spreading through the trees. The Halaha River is the local wonder of winter - fed by warm springs, it refuses to freeze even at forty below, so its water steams between snowbanks and coats the birches along the bank in thick white rime. In summer the meadows fill with wildflowers and herds graze the Duerbote grassland; late September turns the larch and birch forests gold. The small town is best known for its railway station, a timber-and-stone building from 1937 that survives from the Japanese occupation, and for the long, extreme winter, when temperatures drop far below freezing and the region markets itself as a snow destination.
Arxan National Forest Park, Arxan City, Hinggan League, Arxan, Inner Mongolia, China
Park open daily in daylight, roughly 7:00-17:00 with seasonal variation (check); shuttle buses stop running in the late afternoon.