Get to know Hailin
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- Administrative area
- County-level city · 县级市
- Part of
- Mudanjiang
- Chinese name
- 海林市
- Local areas
- County-level city guide
Area & population
- Population · 2003
- 440,000
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
The city takes its name from the Hailang River (海浪河), which the city government describes as the largest tributary of the Mudanjiang River. It rises in the Zhangguangcai Range at a place called "Hailan Woji" (海兰窝集), Manchu for "elm forest". Forest covers 79.1 per cent of the city, and its 144 rivers all belong to the Mudanjiang system. Lotus Lake (莲花湖), with a surface of 133 square kilometres, is described by the city as the largest man-made body of water in Northeast China and hosts a national water-sports training base.
History
People lived here in the late Palaeolithic, and the city government counts it among the homelands of the Manchu. In 1653 the Qing placed the Ningguta (宁古塔) military command at what is now Jiujie (旧街), and Hailin served as the seat of the Ningguta general. The modern name dates from 4 October 1948, when Xinhai (新海) and Wulin (五林) counties merged and each gave the last character of its name. The county was abolished in 1956, restored in 1962 and became a city on 28 July 1992.
Hailin is where the scout Yang Zirong (杨子荣) fought and died; the novel Tracks in the Snowy Forest (林海雪原) and the opera Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy (智取威虎山) made Hailin a household name. The Yang Zirong Martyrs' Cemetery (杨子荣烈士陵园) became a national patriotic education base in 2009.
What to see
The city has three national forest parks: China Snow Town (中国雪乡), Weihu Mountain (威虎山) and Foshou Mountain (佛手山), as well as the Lotus Lake geopark. The Siberian Tiger Park (东北虎林园) is described by the city government as the largest in the world. Hengdaohezi (横道河子) is a century-old town with a strongly Russian character.
Food and local products
Hailin calls itself the home of the lion's mane mushroom (猴头菇); "Hailin lion's mane" is a national geographical-indication product. Forest foods include bracken, Aralia shoots (刺嫩芽) and pine nuts. The city's food-culture page describes the pig-killing feast (杀猪菜) as a typical Manchu meal: pork stewed with sauerkraut, and blood sausage made by filling pig's small intestine with blood seasoned with salt, ginger and chilli, then sliced to eat. Suantangzi (酸汤子) is a noodle of soaked, ground and fermented maize, squeezed into the pot through a small iron tube held between thumb and forefinger.
Highlights
- China Snow Town 中国雪乡: One of Hailin's three national forest parks.
- Siberian Tiger Park 东北虎林园: Described by the Hailin government as the largest in the world.
- Hengdaohezi 横道河子: A century-old town with a strongly Russian character.
- Yang Zirong Martyrs' Cemetery 杨子荣烈士陵园: National patriotic education base since 2009.
- Hailin lion's mane mushroom 海林猴头菇: A national geographical-indication product.
Sources for this guide
海林概况_海林市人民政府 · Hailin Municipal People's Government
历史沿革_海林市人民政府 · Hailin Municipal People's Government
饮食文化_海林市人民政府 · Hailin Municipal People's Government
海林市 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-25.
Explore Hailin
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Hailin
Snow-covered cabins and red lanterns in China Snow Town (Xuexiang), Hailin · 黑龙江海林中国雪乡雪屋与红灯笼 Source-recorded photograph date: 2010-02-18 07:26:32.China Snow Town中国雪乡
Scenic area at Shuangfeng Forest Farm in Hailin, Heilongjiang, with seven months of snow a year, sticky snow, log-cabin kang lodgings and stews.
Read the place guide →
Hengdaohezi Railway Station, a Chinese Eastern Railway-era building with twin red spires, Hailin, Mudanjiang · 牡丹江市海林市横道河子火车站，中东铁路建筑 Source-recorded photograph date: 2011-01-22 15:12:17.Hengdaohezi Railway Town横道河子
Hengdaohezi is a historic railway town in Hailin, within the Mudanjiang region.
Read the place guide →
Weihu Mountain National Forest Park · 威虎山国家森林公园Weihu Mountain National Forest Park威虎山国家森林公园
Weihushan National Forest Park in Hailin brings together Chaihe’s wooded mountains, lake scenery and forestry-linked tourism areas.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Hailin is about 20 km in a straight line from central Mudanjiang. Search for 海林市 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
China Snow Town and Hengdaohezi Railway Town are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Mudanjiang →More in Mudanjiang
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 海林市 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: China Snow Town · Chen Wu · CC BY 2.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP without cropping, retouching or changing the photographed subject.
Photo: Hengdaohezi Railway Town · TowerCard · CC BY-SA 3.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Weihu Mountain National Forest Park · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.