Aimin District 爱民区

Setting and landscape

The ground is fairly level and rises towards the northwest, where the hills belong to the Zhangguangcai Range (张广才岭) of the Changbai Mountains; Diaoyu Mountain (钓鱼山), at 724 metres, is the highest point. Streams such as the Bei'an River (北安河) and the Jinlong, Yinlong and Qinglong brooks (金龙溪, 银龙溪, 青龙溪) run eastward through the neighbouring districts and Hailin into the Mudan River. Winters are long and cold and summers short, with a frost-free season of roughly 125 to 130 days.

History

In the early Qing the area was open grassland covered in yellow flowers, part of what came to be called the Great Northern Wilderness, or Beidahuang (北大荒). The district government dates the growth of a town here to 1903, when Mudanjiang railway station was set up on the Chinese Eastern Railway (中东铁路), whose construction rights Russia had taken in 1896. Japanese troops occupied Mudanjiang in May 1932; most of the North District they created when they divided the city in 1937 is now part of Aimin. In March 1947 the city's Jinling District (金铃区) was renamed Aimin, and the present district was set up in January 1958.

What to see

Beishan Park (北山公园), at the foot of the northern hills, holds a monument built in 1947 to those who died in the War of Resistance against Japan and the Patriotic Self-Defence War (爱国自卫战争). In the west of the district are the Children's Park (儿童公园) and 301 Park (301公园); the latter combines large lantern displays with pavilions, rockeries and ponds. Sandaoguan National Forest Park (三道关国家级森林公园), 24 kilometres from the city, was named one of Heilongjiang's "100 places most worth visiting". The district government also lists Heibao Bear Park (黑宝熊乐园), which it calls the world's largest black bear breeding base.

Food and local products

The hills supply mountain produce: eleuthero or Siberian ginseng (刺五加), astragalus root (黄芪), lion's mane mushrooms (猴头蘑) and black wood ear fungus (黑木耳).

Getting oriented

The Tujia railway (图佳铁路) forms the eastern boundary with Yangming District (阳明区) and the Binsui railway (滨绥铁路) the southern edge; Xi'an District (西安区) and Hailin (海林) lie to the northwest. National Highway 301 crosses the district on the city's middle ring road. The district government gives distances of 356 kilometres to Harbin, 182 kilometres to the border city of Suifenhe (绥芬河), 118 kilometres to Jingpo Lake (镜泊湖) and 10 kilometres to Mudanjiang airport. Mudanjiang Normal University (牡丹江师范学院), Mudanjiang Medical University (牡丹江医学院) and Mudanjiang University (牡丹江大学) are all in the district.

Highlights

• Sandaoguan National Forest Park 三道关国家级森林公园: National forest park 24 km from the city, with peaks, rock formations, woods and clear water.
• Beishan Park 北山公园: Hillside park with a 1947 monument to the war dead.
• Heibao Bear Park 黑宝熊乐园: Described by the district government as the world's largest black bear breeding base.
• Diaoyu Mountain 钓鱼山: Highest point in the district at 724 metres, in the Zhangguangcai Range.