Gongnaisi Forest Park 巩乃斯森林公园

About Gongnaisi Forest Park

The scenic area is 255 kilometres from Hejing county town and 320 kilometres from Korla, beside national highway 218, with highways 217 and 218 passing through it, and it combines grassland, glacier, river, lake, forest, waterfall and hot spring scenery. Its sights include the national forest park, the Banchan Gully (班禅沟) flower fields, the Arxiang hot spring (阿尔先温泉) with its therapeutic value, and ten-thousand-mu rapeseed flower viewing gardens.

The grassland, on the upper Gongnaisi River, is the site of the Gongnaisi forestry station and is described as a large store of animals and plants, with snowcock, saker falcon, red deer and brown bear living there. Wild flowers bloom across it from June to August. Gongnaisi scenic area is a national 4A-grade tourist scenic area, a national forest park and an autonomous-region-level ecological tourism demonstration area, and in 2014 received the title "China's most beautiful countryside", among other honours.

What to look for

• The national forest park inside the scenic area, described as dense with trees
• The Banchan Gully (班禅沟) flower fields
• The Arxiang hot spring (阿尔先温泉), described as having therapeutic value
• The ten-thousand-mu rapeseed flower viewing gardens

Location & getting there

Getting to Gongnaisi Forest Park

Check weather, trail access and the last return service. A mountain or forest area is not one entrance, and a map’s central pin may be far from the trailhead.

• Search for 巩乃斯森林公园 with 巴音郭楞蒙古自治州 and 和静县.