Tangwang County 汤旺县

What to see

The Tangwanghe Linhai Qishi scenic area (汤旺河林海奇石景区, "forest sea and strange rocks") at Tangwanghe town (汤旺河镇) is, according to the county government, the only 5A scenic area in Yichun; it reached that rating in 2013. The Heilongjiang Department of Culture and Tourism describes a rare granite stone-forest landscape with intact original ecology, covering 19,000 hectares with forest cover of 99.8 percent and summer temperatures averaging 18–23°C. The county government says the name comes from the sight of trees growing on rocks and rocks hidden in the forest, and that the site holds the most complete and typical Indosinian-period geological relics in China.

Under its various names the same park became Lesser Khingan Stone Forest National Forest Park (小兴安岭石林国家森林公园) in December 2003 and Yichun Granite National Geopark (伊春花岗岩国家地质公园) in January 2004, and in October 2008 the environment ministry and the National Tourism Administration approved it as a national park pilot under the name Tangwang River National Park (汤旺河国家公园). Its elevation runs from 354 to 703 metres, under mixed forest of Korean pine, spruce, larch and white birch.

History

A preparatory office for the Dongtang (东汤) forestry bureau was set up in 1957, and in 1958 the bureau was renamed Dongfeng (东风). In the 1960s it developed the "Dongfeng experience" (东风经验) of pairing logging with replanting, which the county government says became known across China, and Deng Xiaoping visited on 21 July 1964. Dongfeng District, set up in December 1964, shared its offices with the forestry bureau as a combined government-and-enterprise body; Wuyiling District followed in 1967, and in 1984 Dongfeng was renamed Tangwanghe District after the river. On 13 July 2019 the Tangwanghe and Wuyiling districts were merged into Tangwang County, with its seat in the old Tangwanghe district.

Setting and landscape

The county government puts forest cover at 85.1 percent. The Wuyiling Forestry Bureau (乌伊岭林业局), one of two forestry companies in the county, lies in the north of the Yichun forest region and spans both the northern and southern slopes of the Lesser Khingan. The river's historical names include Taowen (桃温水) under the Yuan and Tuowen (托温江) under the Ming; the present form was adopted in the late Qing.

Highlights

• Tangwanghe Linhai Qishi scenic area 汤旺河林海奇石景区: Granite stone forest in original forest; a 5A scenic area since 2013.
• Tangwang River National Park 汤旺河国家公园: Chosen in October 2008 as a national park pilot.
• Wuyiling 乌伊岭: Source of the 492-kilometre Tangwang River.